


Beyond the Darkness

by Thompster



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Angst, EvilCharming, F/M, Flashbacks, Secrets, Suicidal Thoughts, during the curse, regalbeliever
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-07
Updated: 2018-07-04
Packaged: 2019-03-01 09:41:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 27,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13292160
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Thompster/pseuds/Thompster
Summary: In a desperate move, Regina calls David at one of her weakest moments for help. Why of all people did Regina have to call David, will he help her? What happens when past secrets are slowly revealed? Heavy on RegalBeliever and EvilCharming, ratings will change.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This story started from a one shot idea and I decided to make it a full story, I'm posting the first two chapters and waiting to see if you guys like it, and if you do then I'll continue it :) The first chapter is very heavy on Regalbeliever (not in a good way I'm afraid, I apologize to all the regalbeliever fans out there, it will get better I promise haha)
> 
> A big thank you to my beta again ofc x
> 
> TRIGGER WARNING: suicide thoughts

Today was Wednesday and as almost everyday for now months, Henry came home slamming the front door shut and running directly to his room, without even giving a glance to his mother.

Regina sighed and as usual, picked up his backpack and made her way up to his room to put it in front of his bedroom door and ask him to do his homework, and as usual Henry would wait for her to be gone and open his door to take his backpack and then close it back until supper.

She didn't know what to do anymore, she had tried everything. Sessions with Archie, making his favorite dessert everyday, being softer than usual, trying to be more affectionate… Nothing worked. Gone were the times when he would wait for her to tuck him in, tell him a bedtime-story and wait for her goodnight kiss to tell her he loved her. Gone were the times when he would come home and hug her, telling her about his day at school and asking her about her day.

Now Henry barely talked to her, barely greeted her with a 'morning' and 'bye' when he would leave for school. Regina couldn't even remember the last time he had hugged her or let her hug him, even less the last time he had told her he loved her.

Today was no different, except that Regina would try to talk to him tonight

…

David was at work, and as usual he had more paperwork to fill in than crimes to solve. Not that he was complaining about Storybrooke getting close to no crimes at all, but his life could use some more excitement, more action, because the only action he was getting right now was the endless paperwork he had to fill otherwise he was sure the Mayor would actually cut his head off this time.

Infuriating woman. She was always cold to him and barely giving him any more than a glance every time he would drop his paperwork at her office. Well that was, when she thought he was actually not looking. He had caught her a few times checking him out and/or stealing glances at him at Granny's. He had even thought he might have a chance and, one night, had taken his courage in both hands and had asked her out. She had said no, but when David had looked into her eyes, he had seen that she was debating wether to say yes or no, so he decided to give her some time and not give up on his chance and try again another day.

That happened two months ago exactly, the night before Henry ran away to find his birthmother, Emma Swan. When he had seen Regina's name appearing on his phone that night, he had actually thought she had changed her mind and was calling to take him up on his invitation. But when he picked the phone up, it was a shaking voice full of tears that was trying to tell him that Henry had gone missing and that he needed to find him.

That night had been a shaking night, to say the least. It was actually one of the first times that David could see beyond the cold and lonely Mayor, that night he saw Regina, a frightened mother desperate to find her little boy and never let him go again. She kept repeating that all of this was her fault, that she was a terrible mother and that it was the reason Henry had left, but David was quick to tell her how wrong she was. That night, Regina let David take her in his arms to soothe her fears. He had come back to the mansion to tell her there was nothing else he could do for now, except wait with her for Henry to come back home on his own.

When Henry did come back, accompanied by his (apparently) birthmother, David made sure that everything was okay with Regina and left.

They never spoke about that hug ever again.

David sighed and rubbed his temples. Since his now partner Deputy Emma Swan took the day off, he would probably be there until 11pm to finish all the paperwork he had to do for tomorrow. Sleep be damned.

…

"Henry please come down dinner is ready!" Regina shouted from the kitchen, hoping henry would actually come down for dinner this time. Yesterday had been a difficult day for them, neither one of them had spoken a word to the other, Henry being mad at his mother as usual, and Regina not knowing what to say to him. He hadn't even come downstairs for dinner when Regina had called him the night before, she found out later that he had actually already eaten with his so-called birthmother.

She was glad to see that this time, he actually decided to greet her with his presence and eat dinner with her.

The most part of the dinner had been quiet, awfully so. Regina had tried to exchange a few words with him, but only managed to get 'yes', 'no' and 'hmh' as answers.

As much as she tried to be calm about it, Regina started to be tired of his behavior towards her.

"Alright Henry, what  _is_  going on with you? I'm doing everything I can to try to make things better between us but you won't make the slightest of efforts!" she said throwing her hands in the air. She was trying really hard not to get mad, and not doing a very god job at it.

Henry jumped slightly from his seat, surprised at his mother's sudden change of mood. However the surprise on his face got quickly replaced by anger.

"Maybe it's because I don't want things to get better, that's the thing!"

"But why Henry?! Why can't you try to be at least civilized with me again?!"

"Can't you see? It's  _you_!  _You_  are the problem!"

"What have I ever done to you Henry?! What did I do wrong? Tell me!" At this point Regina and Henry were both screaming at each other

"You adopted me, here's what you did wrong! You try to tell me that you saved me from some foster care parents but you didn't, because without you I would be with both my  _REAL_  mother and my dad! You cursed my family and friends! Do you know how many times I wished you were not my mom?" Henry shouted and heard Regina gasping softly. Her face fell and her anger was gone as soon as it had come.

"I- but…" Regina tried but couldn't find her words. She swallowed and continued. "Henry, I've always done what I thought was best for you, I've always tried to make you happy…" Regina started slowly, with sadness in her voice. "I do not know what happened during the last months that made yo-  _us_ like this but… we were still fine a year ago, remember your 10th birthday?" she asked with a little smile, "We celebrated it at Granny's together with some of your… friends -as you like to call them, you were happy weren't you?"

"Yes, I  _was_ happy at that moment, but only because I was with some of my friends and even my family, certainly  _not_  because of  _you_. You know what? Do you know what I wished for my 10th birthday? I wished you were gone! No one would miss you, because you're evil and no one loves you, not even me,  _no one_. At least the town could be free of you and be happy again, you're just a burden to everyone. And then I could be with my real mom, the one who truly loves me and who I truly love."

When Henry stopped talking, he was pretty amazed with what he saw on Regina's face: pure heartbreak. He almost started to feel sorry for what he had said when he saw a tear escape one of her eyes, but he quickly reminded himself that she was the Evil Queen, nothing more. She was just pretending anyway.

Regina was just staring at him for a moment, her mouth slightly open in shock and her eyes full of unshed tears. She tried to recompose herself and asked:

"Is that… Is that really what you want?" She hated that her voice was trembling in front of him but she just couldn't control it at that moment.

"Want what?" Henry asked archly.

"F-for me to be… gone? Do you really want that?" She had troubles voicing it because yes, she was utterly and completely heartbroken. She had tears in her eyes and some of them managed to make their way down her cheeks but she didn't even notice them.

Henry was hesitating. His mother (no, she wasn't his mother, he had to remind himself) was crying in front of him and didn't even bother to hide it. The woman he knew would never ever show him any form of weakness, and rarely any strong emotions. But right now, the woman he was seeing was a far cry from the Evil Queen he had read about.

Right when he was about to answer, his gaze focused on his storybook on the kitchen table, and he suddenly reminded himself that yes, that woman was the Evil Queen, nothing more, never.

" _Yes,_ " he said looking her straight in the eyes "all you do is lie and pretend. I don't care about what happens to you, I just want you gone! Please go away, and never come back." That was it for Regina, her decision was made. She would do anything for her little prince, she loved him so very much, even if he didn't see it. So if he wanted her gone, that was exactly what she was gonna do: be gone, and never come back.

She lowered her eyes, and then looked back into his eyes with a sad smile.

"Alright," she said, whipping some of her tears away. "If this is really what you truly want, I will go away Henry."

"Good. Because it is. I called Emma, I'm gonna spend the night at the loft with her, she'll be there in a few minutes." Henry said and got up to leave but Regina took his hand and looked up at him.

"Wait… I… I made your favorite dessert, apple sauce," She tried with a smile, but it didn't reach her eyes. "You used to beg me to do it when you were younger, don't you want some? If you don't wanna eat it now, you can take it to Emma's…" She looked at him, hoping that he would at least take this from her, but it was in vain.

"No, I have my stuff to take with me for tomorrow to prepare, and you probably poisoned it anyway." he ran upstairs then, not even glancing back at his mother who sighed in defeat

Emma came ten minutes later, she hadn't even parked her yellow bug yet that Henry was already running downstairs towards the front door.

"Henry wait-" Regina started and Henry paused, his hand on the doorknob. "Can you… would you mind if I hugged you goodbye?" she asked with a small and sad smile.

"Uh… sorry I really gotta go, my mom's waiting. I'll see you tomorrow, bye." Henry answered and got out of the house, closing the door behind him, letting Regina stand in front of the door, alone.

Only then did Regina let the sob that was threatening to escape out, putting her head on her hands and letting the tears run. She gave herself a few minutes, then tried to recompose herself as much as she could and went in her office. She took some paper and a pen from her desk, and started to write. When she was done, she took her car keys and left, leaving everything behind her except her phone.

…

10:12pm. It was 10:12pm and David was still at the station doing the damned paperwork. He sighed and threw his pen on the desk. Paperwork be damned, he'll finish it sometime tomorrow. Regina will kill him, but he was so tired… and screw it, let her yell at me, he thought. She was even more damn sexy when she was angry, not that he would ever tell her, but he often found himself not sending her the paperwork on time just so she would come to the station and scream at him just as she loved to, and every time David would need to shut his desire to pine her against the wall and kiss her anger away. He couldn't explain it, but he had this need to kiss that infuriating woman every time he saw her.

David got up and smiled to himself, heading to the door and closing it behind him, leaving his phone on the desk and not hearing it ring.

"Pick up, pick up, pick up…. damn it!" Regina said slamming her fist on the nearest tree by anger before she hung up. She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself. She didn't know what to do, and she didn't know if she was doing a terrible mistake or not. She needed help, so she called the first person that came into her mind. Regina dialed David's number once again and found his voice mailbox again, but this time instead of hanging up, she decided to leave a message.

"David it-it's me, Regina… I… I think I'm doing a terrible mistake a-and I-I think I need help. Please call me b-back." She didn't know when she had started to cry, but it didn't matter now.

She waited for ten minutes her phone in hands for David to call back, but he never did. She started to get even more nervous, maybe he had listened to her voice mail but hadn't called back on purpose? It wasn't as if she meant anything to him… at least not anymore.

She chuckled bitterly to herself. He will remember eventually when the curse break, but she won't be here anymore for him to break her heart. Well, maybe not. She didn't know what to do, so she took the barbiturates she had taken with her in her hands and started to walk deeper in the cold and dark forest.

She didn't know where she was going, the full moon was lighting up a path but she had no clue where she was actually going. She was just walking to try to clear her head and sort things out. That's when she spot it: a white feather resting on a branch on the nearest tree. She stopped and smiled to herself when she saw it. Henry and her used to try and find the most beautiful ones to collect them and put them on a book. 4 years old Henry used to think that if he got enough feathers, a tiny bird would eventually be born with the colors of all the feathers they had found.

Well that was until Henry threw the book away by anger a few months ago. That was the first time he had shouted at her face that she wasn't his mother. Regina's smile faltered. This was a sign, a sign that she should do what she had come to do in the first place: free Henry of her and give him his real family back.

Tears started to pool in her eyes again and her hands were shaking as she tried to open to tube full of barbiturates. She was so so cold, she hadn't even thought about bringing her gloves with her, what was the point anyway? She was pulling at the lid so hard to open it that when she finally managed to do it, the whole tube fell on the ground, a couple of steps from her.

She sigh to herself, whipped a few tears away from her eyes so she could see where she was going, and started to walk to get the pills from the ground. However the cold and dark forest was also very slippery because of the melted snow that had sticked to the forest ground. Regina wasn't paying much attention and she slipped, falling on the ground, her head banging into the tree in the process. Then everything turned black.

David had a weird feeling. He couldn't explain why, but he felt like something was wrong. He tried to reach for his phone in his pocket but realized it was not there, he had forgotten it.

He was almost home by now, just a couple of minutes left to drive. He could leave his phone at the station, he didn't need it. It wasn't as if something would happen during those few hours of sleep he would get before going back to work.

But something inside of him told him to turn around and go back.

"Damn it." David said and turned around with his car to go back to the station. Something was wrong, he could feel it.

Ten minutes later David arrived at the station, unlocked the door and spotted his phone on the desk. He took it and saw 2 missed calls from the Mayor, and one voice mail from her. David anxiously pressed play and his heart stopped when he heard Regina's voice.

_"_ _David it-it_ _'_ _s me, Regina_ _… I…_ _I think I_ _'_ _m doing a terrible mistake a-and I_ _-I_ _think I need help. Please call me b-back_ _."_

"Oh god…" David muttered to himself, he checked the time of the voicemail: 10:13pm. That was 25 minutes ago, and a lot could happen in 25 minutes. He dialed Regina's phone and waited anxiously for her to answer.

"Pick up Regina, please pick up and be ok…" but David ended up on her voice mailbox too.

"Regina it's David I only  _just_  got your message please call me back and tell me if you're okay. Whatever you were about to do, do  _not_  do it okay? Just hang on and I'll come and get you."

David threw his phone back on the desk and turned his computer on really fast, and once it was turned it he started to look for Regina's phone's last GPS signal. However it was taking ages, you'd think that in a town as small as Storybooke, those kind of things would take less time.

David cursed his computer and finally, after 5 long minutes, her phone got located in the middle of the forest.

"What the hell are you doing in the forest Regina?" David quickly sent her GPS data to his phone and ran to his car.

He would find her if it was the last thing he did.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David is determined to find Regina.

* * *

 

He drove as fast as he could, following the GPS on his phone. Thankfully it was rather late, so no one was actually on the road. He left the station 15 minutes ago and he hoped to god Regina was okay. Her GPS signal wasn't moving, and this was not a good thing. It was at least ten bellow and not moving for that amount of time in a cold forest in the middle of night could not be a good thing.

He felt the need to protect her, he couldn't explain it though. It was as if… as if in another life, they had shared something very intimate. But he knew no such thing had happened.

David arrived in front of the forest. He couldn't continue with his car so he stopped it and got out, taking some blankets and his phone. He knew that if Regina was still there, she would need the extra heat.

Finally, after a ten minute walk, he reached Regina's point on his GPS, and his blood froze when he finally spotted her, laying on the ground in the cold, not moving, unconscious.

He ran to her as fast as he could and dropped everything next to her taking her face in his hands. She was frozen.

"Regina? Regina?" He tried to wake her up, placing his hands on her face softly, and noticed blood on her temple. She must have hit the tree when she fell, he thought. But then his eyes focused on something else entirely on the ground. Pills. He found the tube still containing some of them next to her arm, and when he saw that those were actually sleeping pills, David started to panic.

"Oh my god, Regina?! REGINA WAKE UP!" David screamed as he lifted her back from the ground, holding her head and shaking her cold body.

"Hm…" Regina moaned, barely audible and keeping her eyes closed, but David heard it and did everything he could to keep her awake.

"Regina come on stay with me," he said starting to put blankets all over her to try to at least keep the cold out. "Did you take those?"

"… W-what?" Regina could barely figure out what was happening to her. She didn't even know who was shaking her and what they were talking about.

"THE PILLS REGINA DID YOU TAKE THEM?!" Regina opened her eyes at David's loud voice and stared blankly at the pills on the ground. "ANSWER ME!"

"I… n-no… what happened? Aoutch.." Regina answered, really confused and in pain.

"OHTHANKGOD" David said and squeezed her in his arms, before getting a grip on himself when she moaned in pain. "Here, take my jacket, put it on beneath the blankets and I'll cary you to my car. Someone needs to have a look at your head"

"N-no I'll be fine just… take me… h-home" Regina said, her eyes starting to close back.

"Hey hey Regina, stay with me please, you gotta stay awake darling." David tried to keep her awake, but she never heard the end of his sentence because everything turned black once again in Regina's head.

"Damn it, hold on I got you." David told her, even though she couldn't exactly hear him, as he lifted her from the ground and carried her to his car, walking as fast as he could.

When he finally arrived to his car, David opened the door and carefully put Regina on the passenger seat, still wrapped in blankets like a burrito, he buckled her in and ran to his side of the car. He put the heater as hot as he could and quickly drove to the hospital, constantly checking on her pulse.

…

Henry was thinking. He was on his bed at Emma's loft and he couldn't help but replay in his head what had happened before he had gone to his mother's car earlier that night. Regina had wanted to hug him, and he had turned her down. At that moment he'd thought it wasn't a big deal, but the last thing he was expecting was to hear her break into sobs right after he had closed the door. He assumed he wasn't supposed to hear it, but the window was open and he could clearly hear his mother's heart break.

He felt guilty, he had made his mother cry twice today and that had never happened before, at least not in front of him.

He took a look at his clock and read 11pm, Emma was probably still awake. He sighed and threw his book on his bed, opening his door and heading to the living room, where Emma was watching some kind of thriller movie.

"Hey mom…" Henry said as he sat next to her on the couch.

"Hey kid, everything okay?"

"Yeah… I don't know…" Henry answered, lowering his eyes on the carpet.

At that, Emma turned her head to look at him and when she saw his troubled expression, she turned the TV off.

"Alright kid, what's going on? You know you can tell me anything right?" Emma said placing her finger under his chin and tilting her head to look at him in the eyes.

"I know I… I think I went too far earlier, when I left the house?"

"You seemed… upset when you got into the car, did you have a fight with your mother again?"

"Yeah… kinda. I mean, I'm the one who upset her, she tried to talk to me and I wasn't really responding so she got upset and then I got upset too and said… pretty bad things. Pretty bad things that made her cry…" Henry said, dropping his head again.

"Oh Henry… what kind of 'pretty bad things' did you tell her?" she asked and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Henry sighed and started to explain, "Things like… that I wished she was not my mom, and that I didn't love her, and that no one would miss her if she was gone… and… and I-" Henry couldn't finish his sentence because his throat started to tighten and tears were starting to form in his eyes.

"It's okay Henry, keep going, I'm here."

"I-I asked her to go away and never come back again," he finished, wiping the tear that had fallen on his cheek.

Emma sighed and brung a hand to her face, she didn't know what to do anymore about all of this, Henry needed to understand that what he was doing was terribly wrong.

"Henry… those are not things to say to your mother, you do know that right?"

Henry lifted his head and looked at Emma. "But she's the Evil Queen, Emma…"

"Evil Queen or not, do not say things like that to her. I think she's trying her best, you know?" Henry seemed hesitant, so she continued. "Listen, she's the one who raised you and the only mother you ever knew for the past 10 years, I think she deserves a little bit better from you Henry, don't you think?"

"But ma, she did so many terrible things, she-"

Emma had enough so she stopped him before he could say something he would regret later.

"-But what about the good things then Henry? I'm pretty sure you have good memories with her. Try to look at pictures or videos you got with her from a few years ago, you must have been happy back then yeah?"

"… I guess yes."

"Then what happened after that? What happened that made you so distant and cold toward her?"

"I… I found out I was adopted, and Mary Margaret gave me the book."

"Well then don't you understand? She was always the same to you Henry, it was you who changed. What you said to her wasn't nice Henry, nor is your behavior towards her."

"I know… I should go and apologize, I think I kinda broke her heart, she looked so sad mom…"

Emma couldn't help but smile a little, she put a hand on his cheek and said: "She will forgive you Henry, because that's what mothers do, they love their children unconditionally and would do  _anything_  for them. You'll make it up to her."

"Yeah… maybe I could cook her breakfast tomorrow to apologize?" he asked, not sure if it was a good idea.

"Of course you can, I'm sure she'll love it." Emma smiled and ruffled his hair a bit.

They kept talking until Henry let a yawn escape and Emma checked at the clock.

"Okay kid about that breakfast, I'm starting at 5 this morning, so maybe you should sleep at home tonight I can drop you off right n… WOW kid, it's already 1:30am, do you have a key?"

"Uh, yeah I got mine." Henry said looking for his backpack

"Alright then take your stuff and I'm driving you home, you sure your mom won't mind since it's very late… or more like very early?"

"Nah, she's probably gone to bed already, she won't even notice I got home that late."

Emma nodded and told him "Okay then I'll be waiting for you on the couch, tell me when you're ready."

"Yup I'll be quick," Henry said, running to his bedroom.

…

"Sheriff Nolan?" David lifted his head quickly at the doctor's voice and walked to him.

"Come with me, we can talk inside of her room, she's still out." Doctor Whale said, showing the way to David.

Once they got inside, David saw Regina lying on the bed, still unconscious and started to worry again.

"Is she alright?" David asked.

Whale sighed and looked at Regina.

"Mostly yes, she has a small concussion, nothing severe but I would like to keep her there for a little while after she wakes up, to see if she got any cerebral damage that we couldn't see on the scan but I think she'll be okay. Luckily she won't suffer from any body damage because of the cold, apart from a few frost nips on her hands but we got them on time."

"Oh thank god, thank you Whale, really."

"Of course, that's my job." he said with a smile. He then looked at David more seriously and said "You know, she was probably in dangerous hypothermia when you found her, you did really well by enveloping her in blankets and putting the heater on in your car on your way here. Had you found her 10 minutes later, it might have been too late," Whale then placed a hand on David's shoulder, "you did a good job Sheriff."

David nodded and whale started to walk out of the room, but stopped when David started to speak again.

"Do you know when is she going to wake up?"

"Well she was out the whole time during the exams, which lasted approximatively an hour so I guess she'll be awake soon, maybe half an hour or so."

"Okay thank you again, I'll keep an eye on her."

"Oh I'm sure you will." Whale answered with a knowing look, smirking and exited the room.

David sat next to Regina and took her hand in his. He didn't know what had caused her to do this, but he would try to talk to her and help her. He sighed, looking at her sleeping form on the bed, her chest was rising slowly before going back down again. She looked so peaceful, her face was bare of any makeup and her features looked so relaxed, it made her look younger, softer.

David squeezed her hand softly and kissed her temple, brushing a strand of hair that had made its way on her eyes and swearing to himself that he would try to bring a smile back to her face someday. If only he knew.

45 minutes later, Regina was still out and David started to worry again. He was about to go get Whale when Regina's hand started to move slightly under his own. David turned to Regina and smiled when he saw her stir, slowly waking up.

"Hm…" Regina moaned in pain, bringing the hand that David wasn't holding to her head. She felt a hand squeezing her other one on her side and slowly opened her eyes to see who was actually holding it.

David looked into her brown orbs and smiled at her.

"Good morning sleeping beauty, glad to see you finally decided to join the living world again." David said, smirking at her.

Regina looked up from their intertwined hands and looked at him, completely confused.

"What? Where am… what am I doing in the hospital? What happened?"

"You don't remember? You were in the forest Regina, you called me to come and get you… I do not know what happened before but all I know is that you fell and hit your head pretty badly on a tree when you did." David explained and could see the past events slowly come back to Regina as her face changed from confusion to - at David's surprise, shame.

"Oh my god…"

"Hey it's okay, we don't have to talk about it right now if you don't want to" He said, rubbing his thumb on her palm.

Regina nodded and took her hand back, missing the warmth of his hand as soon as she did.

"I'm gonna call Whale and tell him that you're awake, he just wanted to do some tests to see if everything's alright and then I think you can go home." David said and walked out of the room.

As soon as he did, Regina let a big sigh out and rubbed her face with her hands. Why of all people did she have to call David? Why did she have to call anyone in the first place? She was so weak… Henry is gonna be so disappointed when he'll see that she failed to grant his only wish.

Regina's dark thoughts were interrupted by Whale and David coming back into the room. She quickly put one of her masks on and let any trace of sadness or shame vanish into the air.

"Hello Miss Mills, how are you doing right now?" Whale asked, smiling at her. Oh how she hated him.

"I feel like I got ran over by a truck on my head and my hands hurt a bit but other than that, I'd say fine."

"Well that's normal, the headache will last at least until tomorrow, but I'm sure you can sleep it off, I'll give you some pills to ease the pain. As for your hands, they were in the cold for quite some time it seems, enough for you to have some frost nips but don't worry, we got them on time, they might a bit painful for a couple of day though." He said, writing something down on his notepad, before putting it down and taking a small flashlight from his pocket.

"Alright Miss Mills I'm just gonna take a look at your pupils, and see if they're reactive… Ok good." He then put one of his fingers up and put it on front of her face, Regina rolled her eyes, this was ridiculous.

"As much as I can see you're doing great, I do have to check if you don't have any cerebral damage to be sure Madam Mayor. We wouldn't want for you to faint and possibly never wake up because I missed something now would we? Now can you please follow my finger?" David chuckled as Regina sighed dramatically and followed the Doctor's finger from right to left.

"Well everything seems to be fine, your body temperature has gone back to normal and I don't see why I should keep you there. I can't let you drive home on your own though, do you have so-"

"-I'll drive her home don't worry." David said quickly, not even letting Whale finish his sentence. He cringed a little at his enthusiasm when Whale chuckled saying "Why did I even bother asking." and Regina threw him a dark look.

…

It was almost 2am when Emma and Henry arrived in front of the mansion, Emma stopped the car and turned it off.

"Are you sure your mom is home? Her car isn't there and I don't see any lights on kid."

"Yeah, it's pretty cold and she always puts the car in the garage, and it's late she's probably sleeping already. Don't worry I have my key," Henry said, looking for his key on his backpack.

"You sure you don't want me to come with you, I could explain to your mom if she wakes u-"

"-Maaaa I'll be fine, you can go," Henry said rolling his eyes in a way that reminded Emma of Regina. She chuckled and started the car again.

"Okay then, see ya kid!" she said, driving back to her loft.

Henry came into the house and as expected, everything was dark. He turned the light on and silently made his way upstairs to his room. Once inside he turned the light on as well and closed his curtains.

Everything seemed normal and he was about to make his way downstairs to turn the light off in the entryway when something caught his attention on his bed. It was an envelope, with his name written on it in the middle. He frowned and started to open it, he found a letter inside and when he opened it and started to read, his heart stopped.

_My dear little prince,_

_When you will read this letter, I will be long gone already._

_I am so sorry for all the wrong I've caused, to you and your family. You deserve so much better than me, I was blinded by my own needs to see it, and for that I am sorry too. You deserve to be with the people you love and if I am not a part of it, then it's okay. You've made your choice, and I will respect it._

_You were right, Henry, about everything._ _As you already know, I am the Evil Queen_ _. My smart little boy, I should have known you would figure it out, but again I hoped that for once, things would work out for me. They didn't._

_Sadly I have no idea how to help you break the curse, as it wasn't even mine in the first place. I wrote a letter to your family that you will find on my drawer, telling them everything they need to know to help you break the curse, they will know what to do when the time comes._

_Once you do manage to break the curse, please tell your grandfather I am sorry, he will know why._

_I cast the curse to have a fresh start. As the Evil Queen, everyone feared me in the Enchanted Forest, and they had good reasons to. But after all these years, I knew that something was still missing, I was tired of seeking revenge. You see, I was very lonely. Who would love the Evil Queen? No one of course, I was a terrible person and wasn't worthy of love, I never was. All I ever really wanted was a family, someone to love and someone who would love me, but I could never have that there. So I cast the dark curse, thinking that once in the world without magic, and once people would have forgotten who I was, I would be free of the darkness that was consuming my soul. I thought I could find love again, and I almost did, but my past came back to haunt me every time, and in the end, I was still a lonely and evil Queen of nothing._

_Until I found you, my little Prince. I want you to know that you made me the happiest woman of the realm._

_Those 10 years I've spent taking care of you were the best years of my entire life. Those years are the ones where I carry so many good memories, memories I will cherish until my last breath. From the first time I held you, to the first time you called me mama, to your first steps, or to the first time you told me you loved me._

_You changed me Henry. For almost my whole life I was blinded by hate and revenge towards your grandmother, Snow. (Perhaps one day she will tell you about our history, this isn't my story to tell anymore). The moment you came into my life, you gave me something I had been deprived of almost my whole life: love. You made me something I though I could never be: a mother. You taught me how to love, Henry, you filled the hole inside my heart, and changed me for the best. You made me my best self, and I will forever be grateful to you for that._

_This is why I am writing this letter to you Henry._ _I love you with my whole soul, and_ _all I want is for you to be happy._ _T_ _his is why I have to let you go._

_When you will read it, I will be far away already, and you won't have to worry about me ever again._

_The only thing I ask of you is to please not forget about me, please don't ever forget how much I love you. I know you will grow to be a kind and wonderful man, and I am sad to know that I will not be there to see it, but I know you will be surrounded by people who love you, your real family, your real mother, the one you deserve, the one you love._

_Goodbye my sweet little Prince, I love you._

_Regina._

Henry had tears running all the way down his cheeks to the paper he was holding, he couldn't believe what he was reading. He tossed the letter on his bed, got up and ran to his mother's bedroom, praying to find her fast asleep in her bed.

"M-mom? MOM?!" he opened her door and when he turned the light on, found no one there.

Henry didn't know what to do anymore, he was sobbing and he missed his mom. He didn't mean a single thing that he had said, he had hurt her so bad and the last thing she would remember of him would be him refusing to hug her one last time. In shock and not knowing what to do, he climbed on her bed and took her pillow in his hands. It smelled like her, like sweet apples. That scent that had soothed him so many times when he was hurt or just afraid and needed his mommy to take him in her arms to make it all better. He put the pillow to his chest and hugged it, letting the tears flow for a few seconds, missing his mother's arms.

And then it hit him. Maybe it wasn't too late, maybe they could still find her. He got off the bed and started to run downstairs to the phone to call Emma, not hearing the car that had just pulled off in front of the house when he was still upstairs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go I hope you liked it, please let me know if you want more and chapter 3 will be on its way!  
> x


	3. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> David and Regina come home to a very worried Henry.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay so first of all, thank you all SO much for all the comments and kudos! It really motivates me to read all the reviews and I'm so glad to see you enjoyed it, so as promised here's chapter 3!
> 
> Flashbacks will arrive in the next chapters and things will start to get clearer/explained don't worry.
> 
> Enjoy!

* * *

 

They arrived in front of the house and David turned his car off, taking the key out.

"What are you doing?" Regina asked, confused.

"Well, accompanying you inside of course," David answered getting out of the car and running to her side, opening the door for her. "After you, Your Majesty," he said smirking at her.

Regina eyed him for a second and narrowed her eyes at him.

"What?" David cast her an innocent look.

She sighed, got out of the car and said with annoyance, "I'm not in the mood for games,  _Charming._ "

"Look who's playing now, Prince Charming uh? Interesting," he said chuckling and Regina gave him a dark look that made him swallow hard. If only he knew how ironic the situation was right now. Regina smirked and walked past him towards her house, when she came to a stop, staring at the house clearly confused. David joined her and looked at the house himself.

"Is Henry home?" he asked and couldn't help the slight worry in his voice. Regina turned to him and replied with anger in her voice, "Of coursenot! Do you really think I would take a walk in the forest and come back hours later if  _my son_  was in the house? Alone?"

"I know, I know, jesus Regina I was just asking, how the hell am I supposed to know when the lights are on in the house and you're not there yourself?" David answered, getting angry himself.

Regina sighed and rolled her eyes at him in annoyance, before walking toward the house and saying "I must have forgotten to turn them off when I left, that's all."

Regina opened the door with her key and stepped inside. As soon and she opened the door, Regina noticed two things. One, Henry was there, phone in hand and trembling and two, he was crying.

"Henry? What are you doing here?"

Henry turned his head towards his mother and when he heard her voice and saw her, his face lit up and he ran to her and wrapped his arms tightly around her, almost knocking her down in the process but David was right behind her, his hands on her shoulders to steady her.

"MOM!" Henry cried and squeezed her in his arms.

"Baby what's going on?" Regina said, putting an arm around him and the other holding his head again her middle.

Henry started to sob against her, filled with regrets and relief.

"I-Im so s-so-rry mom, I didn't m-mean what I said ear-lier, none of it, p-plea-se don't go away a-gain, I l-love you so m-much," Henry sobbed, still clutching to his mother as if she would fade away at any moment. It was then that Regina understood: she was too late, he had read the letter and knew everything, but still, there he was, crying into her arms and asking for forgiveness.

Regina had tears running down her cheeks after hearing the words she hoped to hear again for so long. She got down on her knees and hugged her son fully, since she was still a lot taller than him.

"Oh Henry… I'm so sorry sweetie…" Regina cried in her son's arms.

David was looking at them in pure confusion. What the hell had happened between those two for them to be in this situation? David felt like an intruder at that moment and cleared his throat to remind them that he was still here, even though he didn't want to interrupt.

Regina and Henry both turned toward David and let go of each other. When Henry looked back at his mother, he saw that something had happened to her head and got scared.

"Mom, you're hurt! What happened?"

"It's nothing sweetheart, just a scratch. I'll be fine don't worry," she answered, caressing his cheek softly and whipping away the few tears that were running down his cheeks.

"What is David doing here?" Henry asked turning to David.

"I hurt my head so I called him and he brought me to the hospital to get it fixed and then brought me home."

"But mom where did you go and why is the car not here, yo-" Henry started but his mom sighed and took his chin in her finger softly.

"-Listen Henry… It's very late and we're all very tired, I promise we will talk in the morning okay?" Regina asked, a fake smile forming on her lips.

"… Are you sure you will be okay?" he asked and David could see that Regina was getting tired and couldn't deal with a ten year old so he answered before she had to explain once again that she will be fine, in vain.

"Tell you what Henry, you put your pyjamas on and go to bed and I'll make sure your mom is ok until tomorrow, okay?" David asked, smiling at Henry. Regina looked at him in surprise, and felt relief run through her when Henry nodded, thanked David and kissed her goodnight before running upstairs to his room.

David sighed and put a hand on her shoulder, "Why don't you sit for a minute, I'll bring you some water." Regina nodded and sat down on the sofa rubbing her temples at the headache that wouldn't leave her alone.

David came back a minute later with a glass of water and some medicine that Dr Whale had prescribed for her headache and Regina took them hurriedly, very grateful for him to be there at that moment.

When she was finished, she put the glass on the small table and leaned back on the sofa, closing her eyes and rubbing them with her fingers. A few seconds had passed silently, David sat next to her and got startled when she started to speak again.

"Thank you David."

"Whatever for?" David asked with a smile.

"For… coming to get me in the forest and bringing me to the hospital, I know it's your job but-"

"-Woa wait, you think I only came to get you because it's 'my job'? Regina I… Of course it's my job to make sure everyone is safe in this town but… with you it's different. I care about you Regina," David said and chuckled, "and for the love of god I don't know why because you can be infuriating Regina but for some reason I do an-"

"-And you shouldn't," Regina cut him.

"I- what?" David asked, confused.

"You shouldn't care about me David." Regina was so tired and didn't feel like fighting back at that moment.

"Regina y-" David started but was interrupted by Regina.

"-David listen I'm tired and my head is killing me I… can we  _not_  talk about this right now?  _Please_."

David sighed and nodded, there was no use to fight back while clearly she was in no mood and state to talk. A couple of minutes passed without any of them saying a word or moving, until Regina broke the silence.

"I'd like to thank you also for Henry, I don't know what I would have done if you hadn't been there, he can be quite the handful."

"Of course Regina, Henry is a great kid and I could see he was quite worried about you and you were in no state to take care of him…You do know we have to talk about this at some point right?" David asked, looking at her in the eyes.

"No we don't. I don't owe you any explanation." Regina said, starting to feel anger fuel her.

"Excuse me? Regina you ran to the forest nearly killed yourself and called  _me_  to help you but you don't owe me any explanation? I do hope you're kidding me right now!" David replied, losing his patience and starting to raise his voice.

"Who exactly do you think you are?! You're no one to me, just because you  _care_  about me doesn't mean I do and I don't see why I should explain anything to you! I called you because you're the  _sheriff_ , and it is your  _job_  to do what you did. Now that you've made your number you can get the hell out of my house." Regina said and started to get up but she started to feel dizzy and had to grip the back of the sofa in order to stay on her feet.

"No," David said and he was sure Regina was ready to burn him alive on the spot before he added, "I promised Henry I would make sure you were okay until tomorrow, so I'm gonna make sure you go to bed safely and then I'll leave. Henry doesn't need to find his mother passed out on the staircase in the morning because clearly you can't stand on your own. I don't know what the hell happened between you two but I think he's been through enough for the day." David placed a hand on her shoulders and added, "Now come on, I'll help you to your room." Regina groaned in annoyance but let David guide her upstairs anyway, she didn't have much of a choice.

They arrived in the bedroom and the first thing David noticed was how nicely decorated it was and how familiar it felt.

"Made it to the bedroom in one piece, you can go now.", Regina said, her voice emotionless.

"I told Henry I'd make sure you would get to your  _bed_  safely, not the bedroom, and you're still not in your bed so I'm still not leaving." David replied and smirked when he saw her roll her eyes

"I'm gonna take a quick shower," Regina said heading to the bathroom, "so go do something else." She closed the door. David decided to take a look around and went to what he assumed was Henry's bedroom. He opened the door and saw the boy lying peacefully in his bed. He must have been exhausted bc he seemed out like a light. David smiled and closed the door, heading back to Regina's bedroom.

When he went in, she was still in the bathroom but he couldn't hear the shower anymore, so he decided to just sit on her bed and wait.

A couple of minutes later Regina opened the bathroom door and went back in the bedroom, David hadn't looked up yet from the picture he was holding from Regina and Henry until he heard a gasp. What he saw when he looked up at Regina took his breath away. She was in her underwear, her wet hair almost resting on her shoulder, not quite long enough yet, curling softly. She was wearing a dark-red lace bra hugging her breasts tightly, making the soft swell of her breasts come out beautifully at the light, and matching dark-red panties that hugged her hips nicely. She was a vision, and he felt his pants grow tighter just by looking at her, her breasts screaming at him to suck on them and her toned belly yearning to be kissed.

He was staring, and he didn't seem to notice it until she cleared her throat and said, "Do you want a picture or shall I go on and get dressed?" crossing her arms, which made her breasts grow even fuller in her already tight bra.

David blushed and said a tiny "Hum, sorry…" before he turned around and suddenly found a very interesting spot to stare at on the wall. He didn't see Regina's smirk, and it was gone before he could see it. She picked up her robe and put it on, tying the belt tightly around her waist.

"I thought I had told you to go do something else David, if I didn't know any better I'd say you waited there on purpose," she said eyeing him slowly.

"And if I didn't know any better I'd say you came out of here half naked on purpose."

Regina frowned at him, which was supposed to make her look angry but instead it was a frown of pain when her head started to pound again and she had to put a hand on the wall to support herself, a soft moan escaping her when it became more violent.

David immediately got up and almost ran to her, putting a hand on her shoulder and asking, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah yeah, I just need to lie down and sleep for a while…" she replied, her head still tilted down and a hand on her forehead.

David led her to the bed and helped her to lay down. When she was finally lying in her bed, she let out a big sigh and closed her eyes, enjoying the comfort of her bed. She felt David's eyes staring at her and opened her eyes to look at him.

" _What_  are you still doing here? Are you going to tuck me in, read me a story until a fall asleep and kiss me goodnight now or are you  _finally_  going to leave?"

"Merely going to use the bathroom, if I may," David smirked, clearly amused by her sarcasm.

Regina sighed in annoyance, closed her eyes again and nodded toward the bathroom door, "Right in front of you."

David just shook his head in amusement and went inside of the bathroom, closing the door behind him.

When he came back, a glass of water in one hand and a wet cloth along with some medicine on the other for her head, he found her sound asleep and smiled. He walked toward the bed and put the glass of water on her nightstand and put the medicine right next to it, she'd probably need it in the morning. He then put the wet cloth on her forehead, careful not to wake her and put the covers that were still spread on the other side of the bed on her.

David chuckled softly and said to himself "Looks like I'm tucking you in after all."

He looked at her for a moment and wondered what it would feel like to just lie next to her and hold her through the night, soothing the pain away. He could almost see himself next to her, could almost feel the heat of her body, her soft hair on his cheek… David came back to his senses and shook his head, he was being pathetic. Regina wanted nothing to do with him, or so she said. David sighed and bent down, kissed her temple softly and pushed away a few brands of hair that had made their way on her eyes. He looked at her one more time and left the room, turning the light off and closing the door silently behind him.

He was about to leave when he realized that he needed to find a way to lock the front door behind him. There was no way he was leaving them both alone in an unlocked house. He thought about it for a few seconds until he remembered that Henry had a second key. David made his way upstairs again and opened Henry's door, letting the light from the corridor lighten his room a little bit and searched for the key in his backpack, being extra careful not to wake him up.

Fortunately he found it pretty quickly and took a pen and piece of paper from Henry's desk and quickly wrote a few words on it, before taking the key and the piece of paper and closing his door again.

He went back to Regina's bedroom and quickly put the little note next to her glass of water, he put the wet cloth back on her forehead, since she had turned in her sleep and made it fall and then, after making sure she was okay and still sound asleep, made his way back downstairs.

He took his jacket and phone, putting it on and turning all the lights off. He made his way outside, making sure to double-lock the door and put the key into the mailbox.

On his way home, he made a quick note to himself to come back later today to make sure everything was okay. But first, he needed a few hours of sleep, at least.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, I hope you enjoyed it and I know it's a bit shorter than the first two chapters but the next one should be longer.
> 
> Don't forget to leave a review on your way out, it always helps ;) xx


	4. The revelation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Henry discovers something that his mother tried to hide from everyone else.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here comes the first flashback with a little plot twist that should explain a couple things. Thank you again for the comments, you can't imagine how nice it feels to see people reacting to your chapters.  
> Enjoy!

* * *

 

Regina woke up with a start, blinking at the sunlight coming through the windows. She was confused at first, her head was pounding so hard she had troubles keeping her eyes open and she couldn't remember why. And then it hit her, the forest, the fall, David…

Regina groaned and sat up, trying to fully wake up when she spotted something on her nightstand. There was a glass of water along with some pills and a note. She quickly took the note and read, " _Took Henry's keys to lock the front door when I left, it's in the mailbox, David."_ She couldn't help but smile, always so thoughtful. She took the pills and swallowed them with the water and then headed to the bathroom to get dressed.

When Regina opened her bedroom door, she started to hear voices and laughter coming from the living room. More surprisedly, it was her voice that she was hearing. Confused, Regina frowned and got downstairs, only to find Henry sitting on the couch, watching old videos from his previous birthdays.

Henry turned around when he heard his mother coming in the living room and stopped the video that was playing on the tv. He smiled and and got up, greeting her with a warm hug.

"Hey mom," Henry said, wrapping his arms around her waist softly.

"Hey baby," Regina answered, closing her eyes and hugging him back, before kissing his cheek softly.

"Moom, I'm not a baby anymore," Henry protested but Regina ignored it, to her he would always be her baby.

"What are you doing down there that early?" she asked with a smile, stroking his cheek.

"Early? You mean early afternoon?"

"What are you talking ab-" Regina started, turning to the clock on the wall and stoping right there when she saw what time it actually was, her mouth open in pure confusion.

"Yeah, you slept the whole morning, mom… I thought about waking you up because you know, you  _never_  slept that late before but you looked so peaceful, so I decided to let you wake up on your own," Henry said and took one of her hand in his, "are you okay mom?"

"Oh Henry… you know, we got home pretty late, or rather pretty early in the morning, I was really tired and my head was killing me, but I'm all better now," she answered and kissed his forehead, "I promise."

"Okay." Henry sighed in relief.

"Did you actually eat or do you want me to cook you something?"

"No no I ate breakfast and ate some left overs for dinner it's okay. I also wanted to get the mail but I couldn't find my keys and I didn't know where you had put yours so…"

"Oh right, David took your keys to lock the front door when he left earlier, he put your keys in the mailbox actually, I'll get them," Regina said and started to head for the stairs but Henry stopped her.

"No wait I'll do it, go and eat something, you'll need it to get your strength back, just tell me where your keys are and I'll get them."

Regina chuckled, surprised at his reaction, "Okay then Mister, they're in the pocket of my leather jacket upstairs in my bedroom." Henry nodded and ran to the stairs but stopped running when his mother told him, "Henry do not run in the stairs!"

Regina went to the kitchen and started to cook some eggs and bacon for herself and started to eat when Henry came back with a few letters and his keys.

"Here," he said, giving her her keys back and sitting in front of her with a glass of apple juice.

"I thought you hated apple juice?" Regina asked pointing at his full glass.

"Well I thought I did, I mean… I never really hated it, I just didn't want to drink that anymore because I knew how you loved it." Henry answered, bitting his lips.

"Well why the sudden change of heart then?"

"I was watching some videos from my birthdays and afternoons we spent together in the past and it reminded me of how much I actually loved it too."

"I see," Regina nodded and added, "By the way why were you watching those videos suddenly? We haven't watched them in years, I can't remember the last time I even did myself."

"I… I had a talk with Emma yesterday, I was feeling guilty for the way I acted towards you and… well she suggested I could watch some videos of us, back when we were still happy to remind me of how much you've always loved me…" Henry said and then lowered his eyes, "I'm really,  _really_  sorry mom, I never should have said those things, I didn't even mean any of them…" he looked up again, "c-can you ever forgive me?"

Regina put her fork down, went on the other side of the table and took Henry in her arms, hugging him tightly. "Sweetheart… Of course I forgive you…" she said and then put a finger under his chin to tilt it up, locking eyes with him. "I'm your mother, I love you and I'll keep loving you no matter what."

Henry sighed in her embrace and closed his eyes.

"Thank you mom, I love you too."

They kept hugging for a few seconds and then Henry kissed her cheek, before they both sat down again in front of each other.

"Henry, I know we still have a lot to talk about, concerning last night and… the letter you probably read, but would you mind if we didn't talk about it today?"

"Of course not, I don't really wanna talk about it right away either anyway, it's… quite a lot."

Regina nodded and started to eat again. They would need to talk about it at some point, but was it wrong if she wanted to wait and pretend that everything was fine a little longer?

"Why did David leave last night? He said he would make sure you were okay until this morning," Henry asked, and put regina out of her thoughts.

"Hm? Oh, because I asked him to leave, I was fine and he  _did_  make sure I went to bed safely," Regina said and narrowed her eyes playfully at Henry, letting him know that he didn't have to worry.

"Is this because of what he doesn't remember?" Henry asked casually and Regina eyed him curiously.

"Henry, what are you talking about?"

"I mean, the fact that you don't wanna be around David, or for him to be around… mom… David and you were a couple back when I was a baby, right?"

Regina choked on her eggs, not expecting that answer. She took her glass of water and took a sip to stop the coughing.

"W-what? Henry what are you talking about, you couldn't possibly remember such a thing, where is that nonsense coming from now?"

"Mom, I told you I watched some videos this morning, and when I was looking for the videos I found this…" Henry said and took a picture out of his pocket. Regina frowned as she took the picture that Henry was now handing to her.

When she finally took a look at the picture, Regina gasped. Henry looked at his mother then and what he could see was a mix of surprise and sadness on her face. She held the picture with both of her hands, looking at it intensely as if she wanted to relive the moment.

It was a picture of David and her outside of Granny's Diner. They were holding hands and Regina was laughing at something David had probably said to her. Her smile was bright and she had her eyes closed from laughter, she looked happier than ever. But the thing that had caught Henry's attention and had surprised him the most when he had first looked at the picture, was the way David was looking at Regina. He was smiling at her softly as she was laughing, and the look in his eyes couldn't be mistaken for another one. His eyes were screaming his love for her. They were so soft and looking at her with so much pride and adoration, Henry didn't think he had even seen his mother that happy or someone look at his mother that way.

Regina seemed lost in the picture, so Henry decided to break the silence.

"I watched the video of my first and second birthday. David was there, and you two were  _clearly_  a couple… please don't lie to me anymore?"

Regina sighed and put the picture on the table, "I thought I had locked those away…"

"Well you didn't, and you're right, I may not remember any of this but… he's confused mom, I can see it in his eyes every time he looks at you. You may have erased his memories and his mind may not remember, but I think his heart does," Henry said and watched as his mother leaned back on her chair fully and closed her eyes.

_**Granny's, 10 years ago.** _

_"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" David said as he picked up the cup of coffee he had spilled all over the woman from the ground._

_"Can't you watch where you're going?!" The woman in question replied angrily, and only then did David look up at who exactly the woman was. He could recognize that voice among dozens, Regina Mills._

_"Madam Mayor, I apologize I was in a hurry and didn't watch before I opened the door. S_ _eems I may have ruined your shirt_ _…" he said and looked around for napkins._

_Regina huffed in annoyance and rolled her eyes at him, "Yes S_ _heriff Nolan_ _, I noticed that thank you very much." She watched as the Sheriff took a couple of napkins and started to clean the front of her shirt, clearly unbothered by where exactly he was putting his hands. She lifted an eyebrow and said, "I think I can do that myself, or would you like to let your hands venture in my cleavage for a bit longer perhaps?"_

_Regina smirked when she saw David's cheeks turning a shade pinker at the realization of what he was doing exactly._

_"I hum… sorry I didn't realize I… here," David tried to say, but stopped and gave her the napkins instead._

_"Thank you," Regina answered, trying to hide her smirk but David caught side of it before she could hide it, and started to smirk himself._

_"I suppose you don't have time right now but would you please have coffee with me someday? It's the least I could do to apologize…"_

_"That's won't be necessary," Regina answered but David only looked at her with a playful grin and asked, "Okay then, tomorrow morning before work?"_

_Regina frowned at him, and David only chuckled and started to leave before she could answer._

_"I'll be right there waiting for you tomorrow at 7, please don't disappoint me," he said behind his shoulder, turning his head towards her and winking at her, before he opened the door and got out of the diner._

_Regina chuckled and shook her head incredulously as she watched him leave. He was bold, and she liked that. Maybe she would come tomorrow morning, just so she could show him how unimpressed she was._

_Then next morning, Regina woke up to a crying 3 months old Henry at 5am. She got up slowly, her eyes still heavy from sleep and went to the nursery. The cries faded slowly once Henry spotted his mother coming in._

_Regina smiled and walked to the crib. She bent down and caressed Henry's chubby baby cheeks. "Hey there baby," she said and chuckled when the baby took one of her fingers in his tiny hand to chew on it. "Well someone's hungry…" Regina took Henry in her arms and kissed his cheek softly, making her way downstairs to feed him._

…

_It was 7:10am and David was sitting on a booth at Granny's, had been since approximatively 6:50am and was waiting for Regina. He was starting to think that Regina wouldn't come, until he heard the bell above the door ring and saw her. She was beautiful as usual, wearing a light grey dress showing only slightly the top of her breasts. Her hair was perfect, not a single brand going the wrong way. Her plump lips were painted in a red shade of lipstick a bit darker than usual, making her lips look so damn sexy… David noticed that he was staring when he saw her smirking and lifting a brow while making her way to the booth, so he stopped staring at her body and lips and decided to look into her eyes instead. As soon as he did, he wasn't sure it was any better, even her dark eyes were beautiful and so expressive, it was as if he could read her only by looking into her eyes._

_"Sorry I'm late," Regina said, sitting in front of him and almost looking apologetic, "Something came up this morning and made me leave a bit later than usual."_

_Indeed, when Regina was about to drop Henry off to daycare earlier this morning, he threw up on his carseat and made his mother late._

_"That's quite alright," David said and then smiled to her, "I didn't think you would actually come to be honest…"_

_"Well, you did make a bold move… but I like that," Regina teased._

_"Well who would have thought I would manage to get a date with Regina Mills herself by spilling coffee on her…" David teased back and they both chuckled slowly._

_"This is not a date Nolan, so get off your high horses and buy me coffee already, this is what you owed me right?" Regina said lifting her brows at him with a playful smile. God what was happening to her, flirting with Charming? Really Regina?_

_"If you say so," David answered and smirked at her before ordering coffee for the both of them._

**108 Mifflin Street, present time.**

"Mom?" Henry called but his mother had still her eyes closed and seemed far gone but where, that he didn't know.

"Moom!" Henry called louder and snapped Regina out of her thoughts again. She opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Hm? Yes sorry what were you saying?"

"We were talking about the picture of you and David and the videos and-"

"-Right, listen Henry… I promise I'll give you the truth… all of it, but when I'll be ready. And right now I'm not, so can we please drop the subject for now?" Regina asked, looking at him straight in the eyes with pleading eyes.

Henry hesitated, but he decided to try and start to trust her again so he just nodded, "Okay."

The kitchen was silent for a few minutes, the memory Regina relived a few minutes before was their first unofficial date with David, and this one had followed a lot of other moments at Granny's together, just as the picture Henry had found showed.

Regina was washing the dishes when she heard the doorbell ring. She sighed and leaned on the sink with her hands dramatically, she already knew who it was and wasn't ready for any unpleasant conversation right now, especially after what Henry had told her just a few minutes earlier.

"I'll get it," Henry said rushing to the door.

Regina could hear muffled voices, David saying something about coming in and Henry agreeing. She dried her hands on the towel hang above the sink, and removed her apron, tossing it on the counter and, preparing for what was about to come.

"Hey," David said walking in the kitchen.

"Hey."

"How are you doing?"

Regina rolled her eyes and sighed. He hadn't even left for 24 hours and he was back yet, asking her that same infuriating question.

"I'm not dying if that's what you're wondering."

David mimicked her earlier action and replied, "Let me rephrase: how is your head doing?"

"Great," Regina answered with as little care as one could manage, not even bothering to look at him.

"Is it really?"

Regina sighed, "Why are you here David?"

David reached on his jacket pocket and tucked a little first aid kit out, "Came to change your dressing."

She rolled her eyes again then and said, "It's not even been 24 hours David, and you know damn well I could change it myself with a mirror, so cut the crap and tell what you're really doing here."

David sighed, "Alright, I came to see if you were really okay after yesterday, you seemed still pretty shaken when I left and I thought I would come by and check that everything was okay, maybe even take Henry for a few hours or for the night to give you some time to yourself."

David was surprised when Regina only nodded, but then she pursed her lips and added, "You have to stop doing that."

"Doing what?" David frowned at her.

"Caring about me! Just stop!" Regina almost yelled at him, getting angrier as the seconds passed.

David was also getting more and more pissed at her attitude, he knew it wouldn't be easy because she was stubborn, but he was only trying to help, and he had enough of being thrown away like a used toy.

"You know what Regina, you think I even  _want_  to care about you? Well that's the thing, I don't! I don't want to, but I do, and for gods sakes I don't know why because you just behave like a petulant child! I mean look around you," he said chuckling angrily, "who else do you have? huh? Who Regina?! A ten year old child who still hated your guts not even 10 seconds ago before you ran away menacing to kill yourself in a freaking letter? A ten year old Regina! You can't even behave like a normal human being, how do you expect to behave like a mother to your son, like the mother he deserves?" David said, completely out of breath after his outburst, only then did he see the flash of hurt on Regina's face, and the lonely tear that had escaped one of her eyes. She was speechless, looking at him in pure sadness and betrayal and David was about to open his mouth to apologize but they got interrupted by someone else that neither of them new was watching the entire time.

"Mom…" Henry tried slowly, and Regina quickly whipped the tear away and both her and David turned to Henry, Regina trying to smile to him but faking miserably.

"Come here," Regina gestured to him with her hand.

David turned to her, his mouth open in shock at what he had just told her.

"Regina-" David tried, probably to apologize but she eyed him angrily and quickly whispered "-Save it," before she turned to Henry who was now standing right beside her.

She put a hand on his cheek and looked at him in the eyes, "Henry you're gonna go home with David for a while," she said and was about to add something but Henry was quick to react.

"Mom no… I don-"

"-I think I need some time to figure some things out sweetheart, and I think it would be better if you stayed with someone that could take care of you while I do," Regina interrupted Henry. He looked at her with sad eyes, and then looked at David. His expression shifted from sad to angry as he started to talk.

"No, I am  _not_  gonna go home with David," Henry said and looked at his mother again, "because my home is right there, with  _you_ …" he took Regina's hand and she lowered her eyes, trying to stop the tears that were forming in her eyes.

David opened his mouth to speak again but Henry just shut him out, like mother like son right?

"No, you don't get to say anything right now, and you don't get to tell my mom how bad of a mother you think she is and think you can just take me with you afterwards as if she had no feelings. I'm her  _son_  and I know better, and you have no idea what really happened yesterday, or what really was in that letter. I love my mom, and I know she loves me too, with everything that she has and that's all that matters to me," Henry said slightly shaking with anger and Regina squeezed his hand in comfort.

David was mouth agape once again, he really fucked everything up didn't he?

"Henry I'm really sorry… I di-"

"-I think you should leave," Regina cut him, looking at him straight in the eyes. Henry's little speech had given her some confidence back and she wasn't about to get shut down by some ex shepherd.

"Regina… you're just confused and angry now bu-"

"-No, you don't get to tell me how I feel right now. So I suggest you take your coat and leave our house.  _Now_."

David looked at them then, both were looking at him with pure anger in their eyes, and Henry looked so much like his mother that David wondered if there was really no genetic bond between them. He sighed and got up, doing exactly as they had said. Once he was in is car, he put both his hands on the steering wheel and put his forehead against it. There wasn't much he could have done worst, and he couldn't apologize because none of them would hear it right now. He sighed once again and finally pulled away, already thinking about how he could make it up to the both of them.

When the front door finally closed, Henry turned to his mother, the anger completely gone from his face, still holding her hand.

"Mom, are you okay?"

"I will be honey," Regina answered and squeezed his hand once again, "I just need a moment to myself, I'll be right back," she added and kissed his cheek, heading to her room.

It was a few hours later that Regina finally came back downstairs and sat next to Henry on the couch. Henry looked at her and smiled, she had just gone out of the shower and her hair was still wet and curly, Henry had only seen her this natural a couple of times, that he can remember of course. She smiled back at him and took him in her arms, squeezing him gently to her side.

"Thank you Henry," Regina said kissing his cheek softly.

"What for mom?"

"For standing up for me, and for saying everything that you said, I really needed to hear your words and they felt really good, so thank you my little prince," she answered and this time it was Henry who squeezed her tighter.

"Of course mom, and you know… I'm really sorry about what happened, I understand if you don't ever wanna talk about the picture and… well everything."

Regina sighed and put a hand in his hair, ruffling them nervously.

"You're right, I don't really want to, but you deserve the truth Henry. I'm just not gonna tell you about it tonight because I'm tired, so why don't we order a pizza and watch some TV together instead hm?" Regina asked with a little smile.

"Wait really?" Henry asked back and when he saw his mother nodding he smiled and said, "Who are you and what have you done to my mom?" Regina chuckled at that, finally feeling better than earlier.

"Go get the phone," she told him and he got up hurriedly, which only made her laugh as he came back almost running to her, phone in hand.

Regina woke up a few hours later, she was on the couch and the TV was still on. She was about to get up, a bit confused, when she felt a weight shifting slightly on her. She smiled when she saw that it was Henry cuddling closer to Henry, fast asleep. She took the remote and shut the TV off, then readjusted the blanket around the both of them and kissed Henry's brow, before cuddling back to him and closing her eyes again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops, seems like Regina's got a lot more to hide than we thought, did you see the little plot twist coming? Let me know ;)  
> x


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Regina walks down memory lanes again

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry for the wait, I didn't mean to make you wait that long but here's a pretty long chapter to make up for it, this is the longest for now so I hope you'll enjoy it! You'll find some references from an episode in there ;)

* * *

 

Chapter 5:

_Regina was making her way to the car, a bag from Granny's in a hand and another bag of groceries in the other. It was Saturday and between her little baby boy and work that she had just started again, she didn't have much time left to cook for herself. She had so much work to catch up with because of the incompetent fool who had been replacing her as mayor for the last 2 months. Albert Spencer had always claimed he would be a better mayor than her, the Town Hall needing a "man's touch", as he so liked to say. Well, the fool hadn't been sitting at her office for more than 2 days that he was already complaining and regretting taking the job. When Regina came back from her maternity leave, her office was a total mess and she had at least 50 complaining emails waiting for her._

_So no, Regina didn't have time to take care of dinner for herself. She sighed as she opened the door and got in the car. Henry was at the sitter for the day since Regina had so much work to do, she couldn't even take care of her little prince, and it was taking a toll on her. She turned the key to start her car, but it wouldn't start._

_"Oh come on…" Regina said as she tried once again, unsuccessfully. She got out of the car and opened the hood to take a look inside. Who was she kidding? It wasn't as if she could do anything, she had no magic here and she didn't know a single thing about mechanics. She sighed and lifted her head, only to bump in the hood itself and hurting her head a bit in the process._

_"Ow!" She really was about to put the thing on fire when she heard someone walking towards her._

_"Car trouble?" Regina turned her head and saw David making his way to her._

_She sighed and answered, "It won't start, I got a car full of groceries and… well, it hasn't exactly been a banner day."_

_David lifted his head from the hood and said, "Alright let's see…" as he made his way to the driver's side to try and start the car. He turned the key, once, twice and the car wouldn't even make a single noise._

_"The battery's dead," David sighed as he got up again._

_"What?" Regina replied, clearly annoyed by the situation._

_"I don't have any jumper cables, but I could give you a ride home in my truck?" David asked looking at her._

_"Oh no no thank you but I couldn't impose-"_

_"-I insist, unless you wanna have a car full of melted Rocky Road…" he answered as he took a peek at the grocery bag in the back of the car._

_Regina let out a slow chuckle at that, always the charming prince it seems, "Alright, thank you David."_

_"Why of course," he replied with a smile, "let me get those bags for you."_

_He opened the back door of the car and took the bags, then they both headed to his truck and they started to drive to Regina's mansion._

_Regina was looking out the window as David drove, lost in her thoughts._

_"Long day?" David asked, looking at her from the corner of his eyes and putting her out of her thoughts_

_"Hum? Oh, it's that obvious?" Regina half joked, but David was quick to reassure her._

_"No I wouldn't say that no," David chuckled, "you look breathtaking as usual, maybe a tiny bit tired," Regina blushed a little at the first part of his sentence. Since when did Regina Mills blush? Motherhood was taking its toll on her too it seemed._

_"However you did tell me that today 'hadn't exactly been a banner day', and I wondered why, if I'm not intruding or anything…"_

_"Oh… no don't worry, it's just that ever since I came back to the office it seems I don't have time for myself or for any loved one, I feel like I'm drowning in work," Regina replied with a sigh and then looked at David. She frowned a bit when she saw his face fall, before he shook it off and said "I see," with a smile, but the smile didn't reach his eyes._

_"What is it?" Regina asked, studying his face, "did I say something wrong…?"_

_"What? No no, not at all, I just thought about something I forgot that I'll have to do later…" David answered with a fake smile._

_Regina decided not to push him and just nodded. They continued to drive in silence for a few seconds, maybe a minute, before David decided to break the silence._

_"So… I didn't know you had someone," he said looking at the road._

_"Someone…?" Regina frowned._

_"Yeah like, a boyfriend, you know," David seemed nervous, as if he wanted to be anywhere else than right there with her at that moment. Regina bit her lips to hide her smirk, so that was what was bothering him? Well…_

_"Who said I had a boyfriend now? Do I absolutely need a man in my life?" Regina asked, lifting her eyebrows at him._

_David's eyes widened, "Oh well, I mean, if you have a girlfriend then it's good, like… if you're into women it's cool too, I mean I won't judge or anything it's… cool, I totally support that, I-" David started to ramble but got interrupted by Regina who just bursted out of laughter._

_David stopped then and looked at Regina, confused. He was really making a fool of himself wasn't he?_

_Regina had tears in her eyes when her laughter finally calmed into soft giggles, she whipped the tears away and shook her head. David was surprised at her reaction, he couldn't say he had ever heard or seen her laugh that hard, and she was even more beautiful doing so._

_"David, that is not what I meant when I said I didn't need a man in my life, what I meant was that no, I don't have anyone. I never said I was into women," She told him still giggling a little when he sighed in relief, before she added, "not 100% anyways…" with a smirk and then laughed when she saw him lift his eyebrows at her._

_"Your game is still on Sheriff, don't worry," Regina smiled playfully. "Why did you suddenly think I had boyfriend though?"_

_"Well, you said you didn't have time for loved ones so I just assumed… I'm really sorry," David replied, laughing nervously._

_"A loved one doesn't necessarily mean partner, it could mean anything. But it's okay, I get why you got confused."_

_They continued to chat until they arrived in front of the house, David carrying her bags and her walking next to him._

_"Here you go," David said handing the two bags to Regina when they came to a stop in front of the door._

_"Thank you again David, really," Regina told David smiling thankfully at him._

_"Of course, it was nothing really… I have to admit I do enjoy your company more than I probably should," David said looking her in the eyes._

_"Well, one would think you killed my battery on purpose," Regina replied and they both chuckled._

_"Hey why don't you stay for diner tonight?"_

_"Oh no thank you, but I don't wanna bother you if you have other things to do…"_

_"No don't worry about that, I really need a break anyway. So what do we say, 7pm there?" Regina asked smiling expectantly._

_"How about… I invite you to a nice restaurant so that you don't have to worry about anything and can take your mind off work for a little while?" David answered._

_"David Nolan are you inviting me on a date?" Regina asked smirking._

_David chuckled and replied, "Would you say yes if I did?" They had taken a few coffees together and a lunch or two at Granny's when they were both there at the same time at random, but Regina refused to call those 'dates'._

_"Perhaps…"_

_"Well then Regina Mills, would you accept to go on a date with me tonight?"_

_She pretended to think about it for a second and then nodded, chuckling when his face lit up._

_"I'll pick you up at 7 tonight?"_

_Regina nodded once again and asked, "How should I dress?"_

_"Surprise me," David answered and winked at her, "See you tonight then," He took her hand and kissed it, "Your Majesty."_

_Regina shook her head and laughed, "See you later, Charming."_

Regina woke up to the sound of shattering glass, she was still on the couch, the blanket completely spread on her. Henry must have put it on her when he got up, she thought. She got up and headed to the kitchen where she noise came from. When she got there, she found Henry picking up pieces of glass from the ground.

"Hey, what happened there?" Henry turned around at the sound of his mother's voice.

"Oh mom, sorry I didn't mean to wake you up… I just dropped my glass of juice but it's okay I'm cleaning it up."

"It's okay Henry just leave the pieces on the ground I'll get them, I don't want you to cut yourself honey," Regina said crouching down to pick the pieces up and then headed to the trash can to throw them away. But when she opened the trash, there was a small bunch of flowers in it.

"Henry what are those flowers doing in the trash?" Regina asked turning to her son.

"Oh, they were in front of the door this morning, I figured you wouldn't want them," Henry shrugged.

Regina took the bunch of flowers and looked at the note attached to it, " _I'm so sorry, David."_ Henry was right, she did not want them. However that did not give him the right to act like this.

"Listen, I know you're trying to do what you think is best, and I know you want to protect me -which I appreciate, but Henry you don't get to do those kind of things. This is between David and I and you need to stay out of it, understood?" Regina explained calmly.

Henry nodded and looked down, avoiding her gaze, so Regina took his chin in her fingers and lifted it so she could look him in the eyes.

"Hey, I know you didn't mean wrong by doing this sweetheart, but you have to understand that you don't have to protect me, this is my job as your mother, okay?" She smiled at him and kissed his cheek when he nodded. "Now go brush your teeth please."

"Okay, sorry mom…" he replied and then went upstairs to do as she had said.

Regina sighed and looked down at the bunch again. Did he really think this would be enough? Some flowers and a little note? She was about to throw them in the trash again but that's when she saw it. She hadn't really been paying attention to the flowers, the note had caught her eyes first, but those flowers were the exact same flowers he had brought her for their very first date. She sighed once again and closed the trash, It was empty beside the bunch that she had removed and the shattered glass, so it wasn't really a big deal if she kept the flowers for a little bit, she couldn't bring herself to throw them away just yet.

She sat down with the flowers in hand, and a single tear ran down her cheek as she took a walk down memory lane.

_**Mifflin Street, 10 years ago, 6:30pm.** _

_Regina was all done, her hair was on fleek, her makeup perfectly done and she was wearing that beautiful blue dress that went up to her neck with some killer heels. It was sexy, but not too much, just right. The sitter would be here in a few minutes to watch Henry so she decided to spend some time with him. She took him to his room and sat down on the rocking chair with him carefully tucked in her arms and picked up one of the little books on the shelf right next to her._

_She started to read to him, making voices and tickling him from times to times, earning a few giggles from him that made her heart burst._

_He was tired she realised, his eyes started to close on their own so she stopped reading and just rocked him in her arms for a couple of minutes, kissing his little head when she was sure he was fast asleep. She missed him, a lot. They didn't have much time these days and the only reason she had agreed to that date with David was because she knew Henry would be asleep for the whole night anyway._

_She carefully put him in his crib when she heard the doorbell and made her way downstairs once she sure he was alright. When she opened the door, she was greeted by a very out of breath Ruby._

_"Hey M-Madam Mayor I'm s-so sorry I'm late I had a problem with my car an-"_

_"-breathe Miss Lucas, it's okay I just put Henry to sleep, he was tired," Regina said, gesturing Ruby to calm down with her hands and closing the door._

_Ruby nodded and when she had finally caught her breath she said, "I'm so sorry I hope I didn't make you late…"_

_"No that's fine, I still have a few minutes. Like I said Henry is sleeping and he shouldn't wake up until I come back home unless he wants his pacifier or something so you should be fine, and I'm not sure when I'll be home so… make yourself comfortable."_

_"Okay uh- wow, should I prepare myself to spend the night here or…" Ruby asked knowingly._

_"What are you talking about?"_

_"Well you know, I guess you're going on a date since you're all dressed up looking hella hot at almost 7pm, not that I'm flirting with you or anything but-"_

_"Alright enough," Regina crossed her arms on her chest. "Not that this is any of your business but yes, I am going on a date and no you are not spending the night there since I'm going home right after that date," she said, eyeing Ruby._

_"Okay then who's the lucky guy?"_

_"No one you need to know Miss Lucas," Regina replied and heard the doorbell once again. She saw Ruby face fill with excitement._

_"I can get the door if you're not totally read-" Ruby said hurriedly but Regina interrupted her._

_"-I'm completely ready and can get the door myself, you go make sure my son is okay, I'll hand you your check when I come back," she said, lifting her brows in amusement when she saw Ruby pout as she made her way upstairs._

_She went to the door and opened it. It was David of course, he was smiling but his smile faded when he looked at her._

_"Hey…"_

_"Hi… hum, are you okay…?" Regina asked, frowning at him and a bit nervous now._

_"I- Yes it's just… you look absolutely stunning, really Regina," David answered and took her hand to kiss it with a smile._

_Regina bowed her head down slightly to hide the pink shade of her cheeks and bit her lips. It had been so very long since anyone had complimented her like that, she had forgotten how good it felt._

_"Thank you David," she replied, finally looking up to him and added, "you don't look so bad yourself, you cleaned up nicely," she pointed at his outfit. He was wearing a dark blue shirt with long sleeves that sculpted perfectly his strong body, along with a pair of black pants. Simple but classy, and pretty sexy if you ask Regina._

_"Why thanks, I do happen to clean up from time to time," David answered, smirking at her._

_"Are you ready to go?"_

_"Yes, just let me grab my purse," Regina took her purse and locked the door behind her, knowing that Ruby had a key inside in case of emergency._

_They made their way to David's car together. David had placed his hand on her upper back while they were walking and had opened the door for her, always the charmer._

_"So, where are we going exactly?" Regina asked as David pulled away from her house._

_"I might have booked a table at Gepetto's," David answered and chuckled when he saw Regina's mouth open in shock._

_"David you need at least 6 months to book a table there! How did you do that?" Regina asked completely stunned._

_"Why I used my natural charm of course…" Regina lifted one brow at him skeptically and David chuckled again._

_"Alright, you know how much his granddaughter loves their cat right? Well it was stuck under a fallen branch and I saved it. Gepetto thanked me and told me that if I needed anything I should call him and well, I may have used that call earlier."_

_Regina shook her head and smiled, "David you didn't have to do that."_

_He looked at her then and smiled back, "I know, but I wanted to."_

_They arrived at the restaurant a couple of minutes later and a waitress was already waiting for them at the entrance. She guided them to their table and offered them a drink._

_They talked through the whole dinner, a lot. Talking was easy for them, they had become friends over the weeks, taking coffees together almost everyday pretending to talk about work and still, they both didn't know a thing about the other. Regina was being very private and careful, while David just didn't have a lot to say about himself. So tonight Regina decided to talk, to open-up a bit more, this was her chance._

_"…so at that moment I thought 'thank god this is not my kid' because otherwise I think I might have killed that little shit," David said and earned a laugh from Regina._

_"I probably would have too to be honest, what kind of kid decides to paint your entire living room in ugly yellow while you're at work?"_

_"Well certainly not mine, the most amusing thing was the parents calling me because they thought their house had been vandalized while it was actually their own kid getting creative," David replied with a chuckle._

_"What kind of parents leave their 8 years old son alone for almost an entire afternoon though?" Regina asked, rolling her eyes at the idiocy._

_"Certainly irresponsible ones, I mean I don't have any kids so I'm not sure what I would do," David answered and then added, "I've always wanted some though."_

_"You have?" Regina asked curiously._

_"Yeah, I mean I feel this need…" David started to explain and Regina's face fell a bit. She started to feel guilty because he does have a daughter out there somewhere, but he doesn't have a single clue about it, and it's her fault._

_"Regina?" David called, snapping Regina out of her thoughts._

_"Hum? Yes sorry, I got lost in there for a moment," Regina said with a small chuckle, pointing at her head._

_"I'm sorry, I hope I didn't just scare you off with what I just said…" David said laughing nervously._

_"No no, it wasn't about that don't worry," Regina smiled and saw the relief on David's face. "I actually understand the need, because I do have a son," Regina added._

_"Y-you have a son? Have I been living under a rock the whole time?" David asked, very surprised._

_"Yeah, I have a 3 months old baby boy, Henry, he's my whole life," Regina answered smiling fondly thinking about him._

_"Woa, I never would have thought," David said and earned a frown and a confused smile from Regina, "-I mean, you recovered real fast, you said he's 3 months old? We started talking 2 months ago and I didn't notice a single thing," David rambled again._

_Regina shook her head and closed her eyes, chuckling slowly at him._

_"David-"_

_"-That was not something to say to a new mother right? God I'm sorry, I'm so clumsy with my words," David interrupted her with a nervous laugh again._

_"No David," Regina took his hand on the table, "Henry is adopted," she finally told him._

_"But I'm flattered, that means I've been staying in shape," Regina joked, trying to ease him again and it worked._

_David chuckled and squeezed Regina's hand on the table, "Come on, you're always in shape Regina, I'm pretty sure you don't even have to do anything to look gorgeous," David teased._

_"Oh believe me it's a lot of work, but I never got the best of those hips and tights…" Regina sighed, and David shook his head. There was nothing wrong with her hips and tights, they looked gorgeous._

_"There's literally nothing wrong with your hips and tights Regina," David started and earned a smirk from regina, who raised her eyebrows at him._

_"-Not that I've been looking…" David joked and made Regina laugh, as if… "but if anything, they only make you even more beautiful and sexy."_

_Regina was almost getting uncomfortable with his never ending compliments, she felt a bit exposed, but she liked it. David was slowly starting to make her feel beautiful, something that only Daniel had managed to do a very long time ago, and that she hadn't ever felt again._

_David was so gentle with her, and she didn't think she deserved it. He was still holding her hand on the table and brushing his thumb over her knuckles. She looked at him then, his blue eyes were looking at her so gently, she smiled at him and her heart started to beat faster when he smiled back at her. They were both so lost in the moment that they didn't notice the waitress who appeared right next to them_

_"Do you need anything else? Coffee maybe?" They both jumped a bit at the voice and the waitress smiled apologetically at them. David looked back at Regina and she shook her head._

_"I'm good, thank you."_

_"Well me too, should we go then?" David asked and Regina nodded._

_Once David had paid the bill, they both headed out and started to walk back to the car. The night was colder than when they had arrived, and Regina started to shiver next to David since she hadn't brought any jacket. David noticed it right away, he could feel her hand tremble in his own._

_"Are you cold? Here," David said and stopped walking, starting to take his jacket off._

_"I'm fine David it's okay, you can keep it," Regina refused politely, it was really cold and there was no way he wouldn't be cold as well if he removed his jacket._

_"Regina you're freezing, it's okay take it."_

_"And I'm not made of sugar, I'll be fine," Regina said lifting her eyebrows._

_"And I'm too hot in there anyway," David insisted and this time placed his jacket on her shoulder, before putting his hand on her back and guiding her to the car again._

_Regina rolled her eyes and said, "so cliché," to which David only chuckled and replied, "Hey, I'm not the one who forgot to bring a jacket."_

_They made it to the car and as soon as Regina was inside she started to take his jacket off, but David gently put his hand on hers to stop her, "You should keep it on, it'll take a while for the car to heat up and we have a few minutes to drive."_

_Regina sighed and kept it on, he could see her discretely trying to put it tighter around her as he drove away. David only chuckled, she was so stubborn._

_"So, tell me about your son, you never mentioned him before?"_

_"Well, I adopted Henry when he was only 3 weeks old in Boston,_ _I was told the birth mother didn_ _'_ _t want to have any contact_ _so I don't know anything about her. Henry is an angel, he's the light of my life," Regina replied, smiling._

_"Who's keeping him right now?" David asked curiously._

_"He's at home with Ruby Lucas, she babysits him when I'm running late at work or when I'm not there on the evening, but he stays at Kathryn's during the day."_

_They continued to chat until they got to Regina's house again. When they arrived David turned the car off and told her, "I'm gonna walk you to the door," with a smile and grabbed something on the backseat of the car once she had shut the door. He walked to her, hands tied behind his back and slid one hand on her lower back when they started to walk down her alley together._

_When they arrived in front of her door, his hand slid back on his back with the other and Regina turned to him._

_"Thank you again for tonight David, I had an amazing night."_

_"Of course Regina, thank you for accepting to go on a date with me, I really enjoyed our night," David said and then took out the bunch of flowers he had behind his back the whole time and handed it to her, "and those are for you."_

_"David…" Regina breathed, surprised._

_"It's a bunch of purple Calla Lilies, they mean royalty, which made me think of you," David started and earned a chuckled from Regina, if only he knew… he smiled at the sound of her laugh and continued, "and they also mean new beginnings… which I hope could be our case one day because I really enjoy your company and… I like you Regina, a lot. You're funny, sassy, smart and so so very beautiful."_

_Regina didn't know what to answer to that, she was stunned, to say the least, but she also wasn't sure where exactly she wanted this to go yet._

_"David I… I like you too and I really enjoy your company too, but… I'm not sure I…" Regina sighed, she didn't know how to express what she felt right now… god she didn't even know how she felt. David saw her struggling and took her hand._

_"Hey it's totally okay if you're not ready or… if you don't actually want that. Whatever you want us to be, that being friends or… more, I'll be okay with it,"_ _David said and then let go of her hand_ _to_ _put his hand on_ _her right_ _cheek_ _._ _"Whenever you're ready, I'll be right there," he added and then leaned in, and kissed her left cheek._

_He pulled back slowly and let his hand slid away from her other cheek as he started to leave. "Goodnight Regina," David finally said, giving her a small smile and walking back to his car._

_Regina didn't answer, she only stared at his back as he was walking. She was so confused with her feelings, if this was what she wanted then why did it feel so wrong? Why did she feel like crap even though he was so understanding? Was that really what she wanted? It was only then that she noticed she still had his jacket on her shoulder._

_"David wait!" Regina called back, and David turned around, a bit confused, until he saw her walk to him and remove his jacket from her shoulders. She handed it to David when she had caught up with him, "I forgot to give this back, thank you again."_

_David chuckled and shook his head, "You're very welcome," he then smiled and looked at her, "you should go inside before you freeze out, goodnight," he was about to leave again but she grabbed his arm and whispered, "Wait," and when he turned around again, she put the hand that was holding his arm on the back of his neck and kissed him slowly._

_David was surprised by her kiss, but quickly recovered and put his hands on each side of her face and kissed her back softly. The kiss only lasted a few seconds before Regina pulled away and finally told him, "Goodnight David." She walked back to the door then and opened it, giving David a last smile before she shut the door._

_David looked at the door as she closed it and chuckled. She was such a mysterious and complicated woman, but he liked that. He walked back to his car feeling lighter than ever._

**Mifflin Street, present time.**

"Hey mom you ready to go?" Henry called slowly, seeing that his mother was once again lost in another universe.

"Hm? Ready to go where?"

"Well to Granny's…? You said we would have breakfast there last night," Henry replied frowning.

"Oh yes right, you can get in the car I'll be there in a second," Regina said and Henry nodded, taking the keys and going outside.

Regina sighed and looked down at the flowers in her hand. She got up and threw them in the trash can again, David would not win her forgiveness with flowers, not after what he said. She took her coat and the house keys and locked the door behind her, before joining Henry in the car.

When they arrived at Granny's they could hear cheering and people hugging each other, Regina and Henry looked at each other, confused until Ruby walked to them.

"Hey Henry," she said, ruffling Henry hair and making him laugh, "Madam Mayor, seems like you just missed the news."

"What news?" Regina asked, confused.

"Looks like Storybrooke will have a new resident soon, Mary Margaret and Hercule are having a baby, they just announced it," Ruby answered, nodding towards the couple before she walked to a table that had called her.

Regina and Henry looked at each other again then, clearly surprised. She was about to speak when her phone started to ring. She looked at the name on the screen and hung up, rolling her eyes. It was David, probably calling her to know if she had received the flowers, pathetic. She looked for him in the diner but couldn't find him, that meant he didn't know yet…

She put a hand on Henry's back and guided him with her towards Mary Margaret. When they arrived next to her, Regina cleared her throat to catch her attention.

"Oh Madam Mayor, Henry, hi" Mary Margaret greeted them with a smile

"Hello, I hear congratulations are in order…" Regina said, trying really hard to let at least a small smile out.

"Oh yes, thank you Madam Mayor," she answered, placing a hand on her still flat belly and then added, "sorry to break it to you but you're gonna have to find a new teacher for a little while," with a giggle.

Regina had to prevent herself from rolling her eyes at her, she was about to answer when her phone started to ring again, except that this time it was Emma Swan.

"Excuse me," Regina said and walked a few steps away from the crowd to answer the phone.

"Hello?"

_"Ugh finally Regina what the hell we've been trying to call you all morning!"_ Emma replied, clearly pissed.

"Watch your tone Miss Swan, what is it?" Regina asked and could barely make out what Emma was telling her on the phone as she was speaking so fast.

"Hold on what? The mines are starting to fall apart? What the hell have you done now?"

_"Oh come on you know it has nothing to do with me! I called you to warn you, we're gonna need to secure the area and you need to spread the message that no one is to come close to the mines, it could be dangerous. David and I were about to head there."_

"I know what I have to do Miss Swan thank you very much," Regina rolled her eyes, "I'll join you there," she said and then hung up. She turned around to call for Henry but he wasn't there anymore.

Regina looked for him in the diner and asked Ruby if she had seen him when she couldn't find him. She told her that yes, she had seen Henry heading out but she had supposed Regina had left too since she couldn't see her inside.

Regina frowned. It wasn't like Henry hadn't left without warning her before, he had gone to freaking Boston on his own but she didn't know why he would do that now. Maybe he wasn't feeling so well and went home. She decided to drive home and see if he was okay but when she got there, Henry was nowhere to be seen.

She was starting to worry, so she called Emma again.

_"Yes?"_

"Emma, is Henry with you?" Regina asked, her voice full of worry.

_"What? No he's not, we're still at the station we couldn't find the safety scotch tape, Regina what happened?"_

"I don't know, we were at Granny's and I was about to drive Henry home when I hung up with you but he was gone, I thought he had gone back home but he's not there, I don't understand…"

_"Listen Regina, David and I will start to look for him, he can't have gone that far, maybe he just saw a few friends and joined them,"_ Emma replied but Regina was quick to answer.

"He doesn't have any friends…" Regina sighed, and then said, "please call me if you find anything," and then hung up.

Regina sighed and rubbed her eyes, she was so worried, why would Henry do that again? First the mines and now this. She took her bag to put her phone back in it and found a napkin from Granny's in it. She frowned and said to herself, "What is this doing here…?" She took the napkin in her hand and that's when she saw that something was written on it, " _Gone to the mines, might find something useful there H"_

"Oh my god no Henry!"

Regina grabbed her purse and ran to her car. She took her phone and called Emma again.

_"Hello?"_

"He's at the mines! He must have heard me when I was talking to you over the phone and left right away, this is your fault Miss Swan!" Regina yelled at her, starting to drive to the mines.

_"How is this my fault? You know why he went there in the first place don't you? Because you made him feel like he had something to prove!"_

"Oh please he knows damn well he has nothing to prove to me, you're the one encouraging him!"

_"Alright stop! Arguing won't accomplish anything,"_  Emma replied, trying to calm down.

Regina sighed and answered, "No it won't. I'm almost at the mines, please join me as soon as possible and bring as many help as you can, we'll need it if he went in." Regina then hung up as she was in front of the mines and stopped her car. She looked around, but Henry was nowhere to be seen.

Little did Regina know when she woke up that today would be one of the worst days of her entire life.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we go, hope you enjoyed and please don't hesitate to leave some reviews to let me know what you think
> 
> x


	6. In the mines

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey first of all sorry for the wait, I was working on the next chapter when I realised I completely forgot to post this one lol... I have to admit writer's block is a b... I lost a bit of interest in this story but I'm back to writing so hopefully it shouldn't be too long before chapter 7.
> 
> So no flashbacks in this chapter, we'll learn A LOT more about their past relationship in the nest chapter.
> 
> Until then... enjoy x

* * *

 

Chapter 6

When Emma and David arrived at the mines a few minutes later they could spot Regina's car, but no Regina. They looked at each other worriedly, this couldn't be good.

"Regina?" David started to call, looking around for any sign of her. He sighed when she didn't answer and looked at the entrance of the mines.

"I don't think she would have gone there on her own David," Emma said when she saw him looking at the mines, "she told us to join her there with help, and help is on its way."

"You don't know that Emma, god she's so stubborn what if she thought she could bring him back on her own? She would do anything for Henry… and that scares me," David confessed to Emma and she sighed.

"Listen, why don't you call her so we can see where the hell she is?" She was starting to loose her patience, they were there to look for Henry and not Regina for god's sake.

David took his phone and started to dial her number, "You really don't care do you?"

Emma huffed in disbelief, "What do you mean I _don't care_? Of course I do, but my priority is Henry right now so excuse me if I'm not particularly keen on looking for  _Regina_  at the moment!"

David ignored her for the moment and waited. One ring, two rings, three rings… until he was on her voicemail. He angrily hung up and turned to Emma.

"I can't believe you, how could you care so little… I mean of course Henry is a priority right now and-" David started but Emma's eyes were staring at something on the ground right in front of the entrance of the mines.

"David wai-"

"-She's the mother of your child for god's sake I-"

"DAVID! Jee would you shut up for a minute? Look," Emma said and pointed at the object she had been staring at a few seconds before. "It looks like one of Regina's gloves right?"

They both walked quickly to the glove in question, and when David picked it up, they exchanged a worried look when they saw that it was indeed Regina's.

"So she did go in there on her own, which means now we're not only looking for Henry but for Regina as well…" David stated and rubbed his face with his hand.

"We'll find them both David," Emma started and saw a few cars arriving as well as the firefighters. "Look, help is here, all we need to do is make a plan to find them in there. I think Spencer said he would bring a map of the mines, this could be very useful so we don't get lost in there as well."

"You're right, we need a plan, and then we'll find them."

Emma and David both started to walk over to the people that had come to help but David stopped and turned around when he heard a small rock fall. He stared at it and waited, he was almost sure it was coming. Emma hadn't seen that David had stopped and was still walking towards everyone else and probably still talking to him.

And then it happened. Everything started to shake and fall down.

"Damn it!" David didn't think twice and ran back to the mines, forgetting any idea of a plan and managed to get inside right before everything fell down and blocked the entry. He didn't even hear Emma screaming his name.

…

"I'm sorry mom…" Henry said, and held his mother's hand tighter when he heard a loud noise further away. This couldn't be good, he thought.

"Stay close to me, we'll find a way to get out of here," Regina said squeezing Henry closer to her as well. She wasn't sure she even believed what she was saying after hearing that.

"What was that?"

"That… was the sound of the entrance collapsing I think…"

"But we were almost there! We need to find another way, come on maybe that w-"

"-Henry stop," Regina stopped him and sighed. "I think we should stay there and wait Henry, help must be there by now and if we keep moving they'll have more difficulties to find us."

Henry's lower lip started to tremble and he dropped his head to hide the tears that were threatening to fall. Regina sat on the ground and motioned him to follow her, and when he did she took him in her arms and kissed his head.

"Emma and David will find us sweetheart, they're looking for us it's okay…"

"I just wanted to find something to prove to Emma that the curse was real…" Henry said, which almost made Regina roll her eyes. Of course he would think he needs to prove something to  _Emma._

"Henry yo-" Regina stopped when she heard a noise and saw the shadow of a lamp coming their way. She got up and held Henry close to her until they could see who was coming. It could be anyone really, and Regina wasn't sure  _anyone_  would actually be willing to help them.

"Oh thank god," David breathed when he pointed the lamp at them. Regina couldn't help but breathe in relief when she heard his voice. Henry got out of her arms and ran into David's arms, whispering something like "I knew you'd find us."

"Well that was pretty easy, I just got in like 10 minutes ago," David told Henry and then looked at Regina, "the entry is gone… we'll have to find another way."

Regina rolled her eyes, "That much I had figured, we heard everything collapse."

They walked for a good hour and didn't find any other issue nor did they hear anything from the outside world. David's phone had died 15 minutes ago, after what must have been the hundredth try to find signal. They were tired and had more and more difficulties to breathe as it was very dusty. Regina stopped and started to cough, David and Henry both stopped and turned their head at the sound.

"Are you okay?" David asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Regina waved him off instantly and snapped "Oh fuck off," at him. Henry's head had never turned so fast at that and he looked at his mother in choc. He had never heard his mother talk like that to anyone.

"Don't think just b-because you're playing hero I've forgotten w-what you did -or rather said yesterday," Regina said between a few coughs, eyeing him.

"Mom?" Henry asked, worried. Regina turned to him and straightened up again, breathing in deeply and finally answered "I'm okay Henry, let's go now." She didn't even look back at David, and continued to walk. David only sighed and followed her along with Henry.

…

"So there's no chance to go that way?"

"No, we could try but according to those plans it's only a dead end."

"But what if it's not, those plans could be wrong I mean they're so old what if everything changed during all that time we cou-"

"-Emma…" Archie stopped her, "those mines have been abandoned for years, and those plans are the last plans of the mines that have ever been printed. They haven't changed

in between." Emma dropped her head and sighed leaning on the small table they had set to put the map on.

"I'm sorry Emma, I know you're worried but if we do try this entry, it will most probably only end up making us lose time, precious time that is necessary for us to find them all alive and safe," Archie said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I know I know… let's look for something else because you're right, we don't have much time before they start lacking of oxygen in there, they probably already do…" Emma replied, glancing at the mines worriedly.

"Look," Leroy said, snapping Emma out of her thoughts, "right there, if they kept following the same path they should have found that little tunnel over there that leads to that other exit on the other side," he pointed at the map.

"But isn't that exit closed? I mean we would have seen it otherwise right?" Emma asked.

"Yes, but this has been closed years ago, probably before the map was even printed, it's probably only old wood just to prevent folks from entering that way which means-"

"-which means that we can totally destroy that old thing that is standing between them and us!" Emma said, suddenly feeling hopeful again and ready to take whatever was standing between her son and her down. She took the map again and started to study it closely.

"So, we just have to hope that they followed the path and went to that tunnel now…"

"Even if they didn't, this still means that we can get in and look for them, we'll have people from outside guiding us with the walkie-talkies," Archie replied.

"Alright then- wait… what's that little path on the left right next to the tunnel?"

"Probably a dead end Sister, it doesn't lead anywhere and it's not even big enough to be a path if you look closely."

"Oh okay then let's go, we need to find them before it's too late, the whole thing is unstable so we don't know what could happen until we find them… we gotta be quick so come on, let's take that exit down."

…

"Henry come on don't get behind we need to hurry if we wanna get out of here," Regina said and called him again when he didn't answer, "Henry-" but she was cut by his painful coughs from behind. She turned around and when she saw that he was having difficulties to breathe she immediately ran to him.

"Oh Henry…" Regina held him while he was coughing, she didn't know what to do to help him, hell there wasn't anything she could do, she felt powerless.

David ran to them as well and finally stated the obvious- "He can't breathe Regina…" she could have hit him with a rock if she had one in hand.

"No shit David!" she yelled at him and then turned back to her son who was finally starting to breathe again. Henry clings to her as if his life depended on it and Regina held him tight against her, feeling the start of a couple tears forming in her eyes as she tried to sooth him. "Shhh you're gonna be okay sweetheart, see? You're getting better already," she tried to smile to reassure him but her eyes betrayed her, she was terrified. Henry had been there longer than them and soon enough he would really start to lack of oxygen for good.

"I'm gonna carry him for a while so that he can keep his energy for later, we might need to go through smaller tunnels and he'll have to walk," David said looking at Regina, waiting for her approval. She eyed David and sighed, crouching down to Henry again and asking him "Is it alright with you?", to which he nodded, so Regina nodded as well to David. He picked Henry up on his back and they started to walk again, hoping to finally find something.

A few minutes later, David could hear Regina - who was walking ahead of him and Henry, starting to curse. This couldn't be good. He accelerated and when he finally caught up he understood why she was so pissed. There was indeed a path, a baller tunnel in front of them, but it was completely blocked by an old wagon.

"You've got to be kidding me!" Regina shouted at the wall in front of her, throwing her hands in the air. They were in a dead end, and when she turned around and took a look at her son struggling to breathe on David's shoulders, she understood that there was no way they could turn back now, they didn't have time.

Regina sighed and could feel tears pooling in her eyes, she couldn't do it. She couldn't watch her son die in a dark and dusty mine because of her.

David approached Regina cautiously, putting a hand on her shoulder to break her off of her thoughts.

"Hey, don't give up now… I think I might have a way out of here." Regina looked at David then, almost with hope in her eyes.

"See that wagon blocking the tunnel? Well I think if we can move it and we're lucky enough to find a path behind we c-"

"David do you have any idea how heavy that thing must be?" Regina asked angrily, interrupting him.

"Wait hear me out for god's sake, I know how heavy wagons are Regina, but this one is actually quite small and I think that maybe, if we  _both_  tried to get it out of the way, we could manage to actually move it just enough for us to go through," David replied looking into Regina's eyes deeply.

Regina thought about it for a few seconds, then she looked into David's eyes again and answered, "Listen, I really don't believe this will work but… we might as well try, that's our only chance to get out of here."

David breathed in relief and put Henry down, getting to eye level with him.

"Okay buddy did you listen to anything your mom and I just said?" He asked and Henry nodded. "Okay then if we manage to move the wagon and there is indeed anything behind I want you to go there first, and then your mom and I will join you right after ok?" Henry just nodded once again, he was too weak to try and play hero this time.

David and Regina both got into position and looked at each other. "On my count, three, two, one…" David said and as soon as he was finished they both started to push at the wagon with everything they got.

Call it luck, but the wagon started to move slowly as they kept pushing, again and again until a small person could go behind and they could see the hint of a path.

"H…Henry go!" David shouted as they were struggling to keep the wagon in place. They were on a small slope, but it was making it so much harder to push the wagon because as soon as they'd let it go, it would just slam back into the tunnel's entrance.

Henry did as he was told and got as fast as he could in the other tunnel behind the wagon, looking at his mother and David anxiously.

"We need to let it go Regina!"

"WHAT?" Regina yelled.

"We can't keep pushing until you can go through we need to take a small break just let it go!" David yelled back and let go of the wagon. It crashed back in the wall, blocking the entry and trapping Henry in the process.

They were both panting and coughing as dust started to surround them and a few rocks started to fall down due to the small crash.

"David how are we- how are we both gonna get behind the wagon? I can't possibly hold it on my own for you to go through too…" Regina said, still panting.

"We'll have to push it farther away, you will go first and I will hold it until you're in and then I'll just let it go and run to get in too, I should have enough time before it crashes back into the wall and blocks the entry once again," David explained and Regina nodded in approval before getting ready to push once again.

David counted down to three again and they both started to push harder than the first time, moving the wagon faster but as soon as the wagon left the wall once again, everything started to fall down, causing them both to gasp.

"Damn it!" David shouted and the adrenaline made him push harder than he thought he could, leaving a gap big enough for someone to go through. He looked at Regina that was still pushing next to him.

"REGINA GO! GET IN!" He shouted through the noise and Regina snapped her head in his direction in disbelief.

"WHAT?! DAVID NO THERE IS NO WAY YOU CAN MAKE IT TOO!" She couldn't believe what he was asking her to do, there was no way she was gonna let him die there, she just couldn't.

"I WON'T BUT YOU CAN, GO BEFORE WE BOTH GET BURIED ALIVE, HENRY NEEDS YOU!"

"DAVID I WON'T LEAVE YOU THERE," Regina shouted back and kept pushing, tears blurring her vision and she didn't even know when she had started to cry in the first place. They couldn't both make it and David knew that, he was about to act when a smaller body crashed into Regina and started to pull at her.

"MOM PLEASE!" Henry had seen the whole scene and was now pulling at her arm. She looked at him and then back at David. He was smiling at her through the pain, saying that it was okay, she could let go, and saying goodbye with his eyes. She finally let go of the wagon and let Henry pull her to the tunnel as she watched David struggle to keep the wagon from crashing back into the wall before they made it. As soon as they were both on the other side of the tunnel, Regina heard the crash of the wagon against the entrance and everything fall down as she heard David scream.

Regina waited. She waited for everything to be silent again, waited to hear his voice telling her he was fine, but nothing happened. The only sounds she could hear were her son's pantings and her sobs, this couldn't be it.

"David, David can you hear me?!" She tried to call him, but no one answered.

"DAVID?" She tried again, sobbing harder, trying to move the wagon from the inside to let him in but there was no way, the whole tunnel behind them had completely collapsed, this was it.

She was lost in her thoughts, trying to find a way to tear that tunnel down to look for David when she saw Henry's face lit up. He had been crying as well silently, trying to give his mom a moment.

"Mom can you hear that?" He asked, with eyes full of hope.

Regina sighed and sniffed, "No Henry, I can't hear anything… that's the whole point," Henry frowned sadly at her, taking her hand.

"No mom, I know you can't hear anything on that side… I meant the other side, listen," Henry replied and Regina listened carefully. At first, she couldn't hear anything and was about to give up, but at the last moment she heard it. People were calling their names.

"We're close…" Regina said and suddenly found her energy back. She turned to her son and took his face in her hands. "Henry, you need to go down the tunnel and follow the voices, don't shout because the whole mine is unstable, they're gonna find you sweetheart, you're gonna be okay," Regina said, smiling through tears.

"But… what about you?"

"I need to remove that wagon Henry, I'll be ok I'm gonna come back with David and everything will be fine you'll see." Henry shook his head and looked at his mom with sadness in his eyes, he knew she was in shock, but she needed to see the truth.

"No mom, David is gone, it's over you can't save him anymore…" He started and Regina was about to argue with him but he continued, "He sacrificed himself for us mom, for the  _both_  of us, don't let that be in vain,  _please_ …" Henry pleaded and tugged at her hand until she finally took once last glance at the wall and started to leave.

They had to walk on their hands and knees until they finally made it to the end of the tunnel since it was so small. They finally arrived at an intersection and finally…  _finally_ they could see the light again and hear people talking on their right. Henry took Regina's hand again and almost ran towards the light. When they finally made it to the exit they were blinded by the sun and people were shouting, cheering at them and hugging Henry who had finally let go of his mother's hand. Regina was frozen on the spot, she couldn't hear anyone, all she could do was look at Emma hugging Henry as her head started to spin and she fell to the ground. People started to rush to her side and she could vaguely hear Emma ask Henry "Where is David?" before she hurried to her side too and kneeled down next to her.

Regina's head was still spinning and she was sobbing, sobbing in relief and in despair. Her knees started to hurt from crashing to the ground. She was a real mess but the thing is, she couldn't care less.

Emma looked at Henry in shock and asked him again- "Henry, where's David?"

He looked at her then, tears pooling in his eyes and he looked at Regina again and Emma shook her head as she put the pieces together, he couldn't…

"He sacrificed himself Emma… He's gone," Henry said and crashed into Emma's arms now sobbing too. Emma couldn't believe it, it couldn't be, David couldn't be gone…

She turned to Regina and finally asked, "Regina w-what happened?"

"He-he was… he's trapped, the tunnel fell and he was there and… and now he's trapped… you need to go after him, everyone needs to come we need to get him out!" Regina got up again, looking at Emma with determination. Emma looked down at Henry for confirmation but he shook his head, telling her everything she needed to know, he was really gone and there was nothing they could do.

"Regina…" Emma started but stopped as Henry started to cough next to her. She knelt down next to him and put a hand on his back and asked, "Hey you okay kid?", to which he just shook his head still coughing. Everyone stated to gather around him as paramedics rushed with an oxygen mask and put it on him as soon as they could reach him. Emma breathed in relief when he stopped coughing and was breathing properly again into the mask.

"We need to get you and your mom to the hospital kid, Regina are you-" Emma started as she turned to look at Regina but she was gone. "What the hell? Henry where's your mom?" Henry started to look around for her, anxiety rising when he couldn't see her.

Emma looked around for her, until she saw it. Her flashlight was gone.

"Damn it… Leroy I hope you got some emergency flashlights because we need to get back inside," Emma said and Leroy and Archie both turned to her in confusion.

"Regina got back inside to look for David, she was in shock and is convinced he's alive… we need to get her out before she hurts herself."

One of the worst day of her entire life indeed…


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Okay so I am truly sorry for the very late update, I know I said last chapter that I wouldn't take long but well... here we are. Life happened and I honestly lost motivation to continue this story... but I received an amazing review a few days ago and it gave me the motivation I needed to write the new chapter, so thank you so much!
> 
> I'm gonna answer a couple of questions here that I got in the reviews: Regina did not curse Snow to be with Hercule, after what happens in this chapter (7) in the flashback, all the residents of Storybrooke started to act of their own free will (I'll explain at the end not to spoil anything), so Regina played no part in them getting together.  
> And no this story is far from over lol, it was just on hiatus for a little while I guess? But I'm back! Thanks to my beta for proofreading this on short notice, you know who you are ily
> 
> On this note... hope you'll enjoy :)

* * *

 

"We can't go back inside just like that Emma, the whole thing is unstable! Haven't you heard the crash while they were all still inside? You'd be willing to endanger the life of at least five people just for  _her_? She's a cruel pain in the ass, she's just not worth it, look what happened to David!" Leroy said, throwing his hands in the air in exasperation.

"Well  _she_  is the mother of my kid and I won't let her die in there without at least trying! The least we could do is do what David died for, which is saving them  _both,_ and if we can find David's body then… at least he could get a proper burial," Emma answered, trying her best to push back the tears at the mention of David.

"If you don't wanna be a part of this then be my guest and just fucking leave! But if you do that I wouldn't try and call the sheriff's station for  _any_  problem in the future if I were you… wouldn't want to get my hands dirty for someone who's not  _worth it_.' Emma was fuming and if looks could kill, Leroy would be ten feet under the ground already.

Leroy grumbled, hesitating, and then finally turned back to Emma, "Alright but I won't let you go inside without any plan or protection, the whole point is not for anyone else to get killed in there."

"And what do you propose? Because I can see you talk but I don't see you act and we're losing time." Emma rolled her eyes.

"I was coming to it  _sister,"_ Leroy replied, losing his patience.

…

"David? David?" Regina called, walking with trembling legs to look for David. She had gone back to the place where she had last seen David again. She had been calling him for the past ten minutes but still nothing. She sighed and let herself sink down against a wall, near the wagon. She knew there was no point in looking. David was probably still behind that wagon, his body crushed by the rocks that collapsed on him, completely buried alive. She put her head against the wall and let a tear fall down her cheek. Why did she have to trap him? She thought that by doing what she did now 9 years ago she had set him free, but in reality it had only led to suffering for nothing, because in the end David still got trapped, just not the way she thought he would.

_**Mifflin Street, 9 years ago.** _

_"Good morning sunshine," David said in a sleepy voice as Regina rolled over in the bed._

_"Good morning," Regina smiled and then added, "I didn't think you'd be up so early, you came home late yesterday, I tried to wait for you but…"_

_"I know…" David sighed. "I got a call as I was about to leave the station, I thought I could make it up to you when I got home since it was past midnight but you were already asleep," he said, putting one of his hands on Regina's face and stroking her cheek softly with his thumb._

_Regina leaned into his touch. "You could have woken me up you know…"_

_"Aw but you were so cute asleep on the couch with your hair all over your face and your mouth open," David teased which earned him a playful slap on the arm and a chuckle from Regina._

_"So you actually carried me to bed, how very charming of you," Regina teased back._

_David smiled. "I couldn't resist. Anyway, I do believe today is a special day…"_

_"Oh, it is isn't it?"_

_"Indeed it is," David chuckled. "Happy anniversary my love," he said, and brought his lips to Regina's in a tender yet passionate kiss._

_Regina grinned into the kiss, putting her hands on each sides of David's face to bring him closer to her, feeling happier than ever. "Happy anniversary David."_

_Just as they were about to kiss again, a sound coming from outside startled them both and they stopped dead in their tracks. Regina's face dropped as she recognized the sound, she felt sick to her stomach._

_"Oh wow, looks like the clock tower got repaired after all, I can't remember the last time I heard it ring," David said, looking at the window lost in his thoughts._

_"Yeah… me neither…" Regina replied, still staring at an invisible spot on the wall behind David, looking paler than ever._

_He looked at her then, feeling that didn't sound right and asked, "Regina are you okay…? You don't look too well, what happened?"_

_David stroked her arm, waiting for an answer when she finally said, "Oh nothing, I'm fine David I was just… lost in my thoughts."_

_David frowned in response, apparently not satisfied with the answer so Regina put one of her masks on, before taking David's face in her hands and kissing him passionately again._

_"Make love to me David," Regina said as she broke the kiss to breathe._

_"What, right now?"_

_"Hmhm…"_

_"Sorry sunshine but I'm gonna be late for work, I promise you I'm gonna make it up to you all afternoon if you want, I'm taking half of the day off," David gave her a quick peck on the lips and started to get up but she grabbed his hand, a playful smile on her lips._

_"I promise you your boss won't be mad if you're a little late…"_

_"Oh won't she now? Well in that case…" he chuckled and let her guide him back to bed._

…

_Regina knew what she had to do. Today was their first year anniversary and when they had kissed this morning, the clock had started to work again. This means that time got unfrozen in Storybrooke, which is the first step into breaking the curse, and Regina couldn't have that. People would remember who she was,_ David _would remember and he would hate her, go back to Snow, and break her heart. So no, she really couldn't have that._

_A tear made its way down her cheek as she brew the forgetting potion, this was for the best. She'd rather have David not remembering her than David hating her. Kissing him on their first year anniversary literally unfroze time, god knows what could happen if they kept going. Regina's heart broke at the thought, she loved him so much that she had to let him go. Villains don't get happy endings right?_

_It was a little after 1pm when David came back, Regina was already back home and had put the potion in the fridge in a water bottle so David wouldn't suspect anything, not that he could know what it was anyway. Henry was still too small to open the fridge on his own so that was another problem solved. He was at Kathryn's for the day anyway since David and Regina had decided to take some time for themselves today._

_David wasn't lying when he said he'd make it up to her - they really did spend the entire afternoon in bed, or on the couch, the kitchen counter, and to finish, in the bathtub. The last one was a bit messy, but worth it if you ask the both of them._

_David seemed to get anxious when Regina started to prepare dinner, he was playing with his hands, not really paying attention to what Regina was saying… it was as if he knew what was coming._

_Regina noticed of course, and naturally asked, "Hey, what's the matter?" with a small smile as she was checking on the sauce._

_"Hm? Sorry Regina I wasn't listening," David replied apologetically._

_Regina sighed and removed her apron while walking to David._

_"You know you can tell me anything right?" she asked, taking David's hands in hers._

_"Yes of course, it's just… I've been trying to…" David tried to explain and sighed, before saying, "I should just do it now and stop torturing my mind shouldn't I?"_

_"Do what?" Regina asked with a confused smile._

_"Regina I… I've been trying to find the perfect way to do this, where to do it, when and plan what to say exactly, but I just couldn't come up with anything. So I'm just gonna follow my heart and improvise," David said with a nervous laugh._

_Regina's face turned whiter than her sheets, there was no way this was happening_ now,  _right?_

_"I know we've only been together for a year today but to me it already feels like a lifetime, and trust me when I say that I've never been more sure of anything in my life than right now. You're the woman of my life, Regina. You're… you're smart, funny, sassy, kind, and… and so_ so _beautiful. You're also a wonderful mother, the best mother Henry could have ever wished for, and I admire you so much for that," David said as he let go of Regina's hand to wipe a few tears that were making their way down her cheeks, with a teary smile of his own._

_David continued, "You know that I love Henry as if he was my own, hell I think this little boy got me wrapped around his finger the second I took him in my arms for the first time," Regina chuckled at that._

_"But you know who else got me wrapped around their finger the second I laid my eyes on them? You, Regina. I didn't really believe at love at first sight until I saw you but… I'm pretty sure that's what happened to me that morning at Granny's. I'm rambling now aren't I?" David chuckled to which Regina nodded with a soft smile, staring into his eyes that screamed his love for her._

_David finally got down on one knee then and reached for something in his pocket. He took out a beautiful dark blue box, in which was a simple but beautiful ring, with three small rubies on it, Regina's favorite._

_"Regina Mills, will you marry me?" David finally asked, looking expectantly into Regina's beautiful brown eyes._

_Regina couldn't help it though, she really, really tried, but she couldn't. She just started sobbing in front of David, letting go of his hand in order to put her face in both of her hands. She just couldn't keep it in, knowing what was about to happen afterward._

_David got up then and just took her in his arms, forgetting about the ring and trying to soothe her the best he could, whispering sweet words to her and rubbing her back. The only thing is, he had no idea those were tears of sadness and not joy._

_Regina finally calmed down after a couple of minutes in David's arms. He was rocking them gently, waiting for her to calm down and give him an answer if she had one._

_Regina pulled back slowly and took his face in her hands only to lean in again to kiss him softly, oh so very gently, but with all the love she had._

_David pulled back first this time, kissed her forehead gently and whipped away a couple of tears that were still on her face._

_"Sooo… did that beautiful head of yours come up with an answer yet?" he asked and made Regina chuckle. She could do it, she could pretend for a few more minutes that everything was fine, she had all the time in the world afterward to break down._

_"Yes, yes it has," Regina teased, and David chuckled anxiously, waiting for her answer._

_"Yes, David, a thousand times yes!" Regina finally answered and David didn't hesitate for one second and took her in his arms to spin her around, laughing and kissing her like there was no tomorrow. Oh if only he knew._

_David took her hand then and slid the ring on her finger. It was beautiful, simple but so Regina. She wasn't sure how long she could keep it in, or she wanted to let it last a little longer. She decided to put herself out of her misery (or rather in…) and said, "How about we celebrate this with a glass of that wine I've been keeping in the fridge for the occasion?"_

_David smiled in approval, so Regina left to the kitchen, saying, "Be right back." She opened the fridge to get the wine and the potion out, and took two glasses out of the cupboard. She poured herself a full glass of wine, which she drank in one go, she'd need it for what was about to come. Then she finally poured David a glass, before emptying the bottle containing the forgetting potion in it. She sighed painfully, pouring herself another glass and headed back to the living room, taking both glasses with her._

_David thanked her as he took the glass she was handing him, before saying, "To a long a beautiful life together."_

_Regina smiled at him despite feeling like death inside and repeated, "To a long and beautiful life together," before clinking their glasses and taking a sip of wine. Regina had tears burning her eyes as she watched David drink the wine containing the forgetting potion. She watched as his face fell slowly as he became more and more confused, until he finally looked up at her._

_"Mr. Nolan? Are you alright?" she said as if they had just been talking about the weather._

_"I hum… I'm not sure I remember what I'm doing here…" David replied, frowning._

_"You drove me home after my car broke in front of Granny's, we were just having a glass of wine to chat for a bit when you told me you were tired, you don't remember?" Regina feigned innocence._

_"Oh… yes I think I remember that… sorry I think I'm really tired, I should probably go home," David said, smiling apologetically at her. "Thank you for the glass of wine, Madam Mayor."_

_"Of course, no problem Mr. Nolan. Thank you again for driving me home," Regina answered with a fake smile, before giving him his keys back from the counter._

_She had prepared everything in the small time she had had this morning. David had kept his apartment just in case if he wanted to rent it to someone else, so Regina had taken all of his clothes and put them back in his own drawers at his apartment. She had also been careful to remove all the shoes and stuff that he could notice were gone if she let them here. David hadn't noticed a thing when he came back from his shift today, she had made sure to occupy his mind enough for that._

_Regina opened the door for David, smiled as he told her to have a good night, and quickly shut it closed again. She turned around and sank down against the door, put her head against her knees as she hugged her legs close to her chest and sobbed uncontrollably for the most part of the night._

_A year ago today, David had taken her on their first date and had kissed her goodnight on her porch. Today, he left her house thinking they had just had a glass of wine because he had brought her home, just like a year ago. Except that this time, he didn't kiss her goodbye, and neither did she._

_When David left, it was a couple of minutes before 7pm. The clock tower never rang._

**The mines, present time.**

Regina sighed, still sitting against the wall, there was no reason to stay here. She got out of the tunnel slowly and stood up again, ready to go back to Henry. She sniffed and suddenly heard a sound. She stopped dead in her tracks, she hadn't been able to clearly identify it before since she wasn't paying attention. It could have been the others looking for her, but the sound came from the other side.

She heard it again. This time, she knew what it was: a rock hitting a wall nearby. Regina turned around heading towards the mysterious sound, until it got louder and louder and she arrived in front of a corridor she hadn't seen before. She turned left, entering the corridor, and gasped when she finally saw where the sound was coming from.

David was lying there, a rock in his hand constantly hitting the wall next to him to call for help. Regina ran to him, tears blurring her vision as she kneeled next to him and took his hand.

"David! David I'm here, I knew you were alive I knew it!" she exclaimed, bringing his hand to her lips and kissing it. But she frowned when David didn't react, and kept hitting on the wall with the rock in his bloodied hand. She reached for his other hand then to stop him from hitting the wall and hurting himself more and tried to get his attention.

"David… David can you hear me?" Regina asked softly, still holding his hand and stroking his cheek with the other one. After a moment, he finally turned his head and looked at her, realizing that she was indeed here.

"Regina…" that was the only thing David could get out before a violent cough stopped him.

"Shhhh," Regina tried to soothe him and hold his head as he coughed, "don't try to speak it's okay, I'm gonna get you out of here." Regina helped him as he sat down, and frowned when she saw him wince.

"What's wrong? Where are you hurting?"

"It's… my leg, I don't think I can…. I don't think I can stand on it," David said between a few coughs.

"Oh…" Regina replied and looked down. His leg was indeed hurt, he was still bleeding a bit and it didn't look good.

"It's okay I'll help you, you can lean on me," she added, getting up and holding out her hand for him to take. David hesitated but put his hand in hers and tried to get up leaning as much as he could on the wall next to him. After a few seconds he finally made it up and winced when his foot touched the ground and the pain in his leg started to throb again.

"David I said you could lean on me, it's okay I can take it we're not that far," Regina said, holding him tighter around the waist.

David finally listened and leaned on Regina, he was heavier than she expected but they made it closer to the entry when they started to hear voices.

"Listen… I think the others are close, just hold on a little longer okay?" she said looking at him, worried. He was leaning more and more on her as time passed and she could see he didn't have much strength left, it was probably only a matter of time before he would collapse on the ground.

David nodded painfully, but they only made it a few steps further away when he stopped, saying, "Regina I… I can't…" and fell slowly to the ground, Regina holding him as much as she could so he wouldn't hurt himself.

They were both breathless, sitting on the ground next to each other. The voice seemed to get closer and closer, but David's mind became more and more foggy as seconds passed, which Regina noticed.

"Hey hey, David stay with me a little longer, they're almost here please don't close your eyes…" Regina said, putting her hands on his face to try to wake him up a little more, but his eyes closed against his will.

Regina sighed and held him as his body relaxed against her. She could still hear the voices so she tried to call them to get them to come their way.

"WE'RE HERE! CAN ANYONE HEAR ME?" Regina yelled and thought that no one would hear her but then she heard Emma's voice calling her name. Regina called her again, and soon enough she heard steps coming their way.

Regina had never been more relieved than when she finally saw Emma running to them.

"Oh my god, David! Is he…?"

"No he's just unconscious I think, he hurt his leg and lost a lot of blood. Emma I couldn't carry him any further I'm sorry…" Regina said sniffling, finally feeling some of the pressure easing off of her.

"Hey it's alright, if it wasn't for you he probably would have died in here," Emma replied, trying to ease her mind, but Regina replied, "If it wasn't for me he wouldn't even be in this situation in the first place…"

Emma sighed, "Look, he'll be alright and that's all that matters right?" she then took her walkie talkie and gave the others their position. A couple of minutes later, Archie and Leroy arrived and carried David out, while Emma helped Regina, who had hurt her ankle earlier while helping David to walk.

As soon as they all got out, Leroy and Archie rushed David to the ambulance so they could get him to the hospital as fast as they could. Regina tried to follow them, but Emma held her back.

"Regina you need to get checked out too, your ankle is hurting and I can hear you can't breathe properly."

"Emma I have to see him I-"

"Regina he'll be fine, you can't even see him now they're gonna take care of him. You can see him after  _you_  get taken care of," Emma told Regina, and then added, "and I think there's someone who wants to see you first…"

Emma nodded in the direction behind Regina, and when she turned around she could see Henry running to her. He crashed into her legs, hugging her tight.

"MOM! I'm so glad you're okay I was so scared…" Henry said, and Regina was glad Emma had been there to steady her otherwise she probably would have ended up on the ground thanks to Henry.

"Oh Henry… I'm sorry I scared you but I'm okay I promise, and David will be too," Regina said as she hugged her son tight.

"But you're still hurt… Mom… we should have believed you when you said David was alive, I'm sorry…"

"It's alright, at least now the  _three_  of us will be fine," Regina smiled.

"Madam Mayor?" A voice asked behind her. She was greeted by a paramedic when she turned around.

"You should get checked out, is it alright if I walk you to the ambulance so we can take care of your injuries? That ankle doesn't look too good…" the paramedic said. Regina looked down at her ankle, and it was indeed turning purple/blue-ish.

"Indeed it doesn't, and it doesn't feel good either," Regina replied as she winced, "please lead the way."

The paramedic offered her his arm to lean on - which she gladly accepted, and smiled at her son telling him she'll see him later, and to be good to Emma.

As she was walking to the ambulance, Regina had only one thing in mind… going to see David and make sure he was alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Soooooo... I hope you liked it? I'm gonna explain a few things now:
> 
> On David and Regina's first year anniversary, time unfroze in Storybrooke. To prevent that from continuing (aka the curse breaking and David remembering who she was etc), as Regina knew it was linked to the love she shared with David, she decided that it was better to end things. She decided to erase his memories so she wouldn't hurt him, surely he wouldn't understand why she was leaving him and he wouldn't give up on her just like that. Erasing his memories meant erasing the fact that he loved her from his memory. When David drank the potion and then left after forgetting everything that had happened for the last year with Regina, time froze back, which is why Regina never heard the clock tower ring after he left.
> 
> BUT: I forgot to mention it in the first chapter, but time did unfreeze again when Emma came to town, just like in the original story.
> 
> There you go, if you have further questions don't hesitate to leave it in the reviews or to send me a PM! And of course as usual, reviews do wonder to my motivation and help cure that damn writer's block *insert angel emoji* ;)


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